In full: The 25 countries that have expelled Russian diplomats
Britain has pointed the finger at Russia and taken action by expelling 23 Russian diplomats from its shores.
A number of other countries have followed suit, with Australia and Moldova being the latest nations to show support and solidarity with the UK.
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Hide AdEarlier today, military alliance NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) also announced it has expelled seven Russian diplomats.
With more than 100 agents from 25 countries being sent home, it is “the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history”, according to Theresa May
Here are the 25 countries that have expelled Russian diplomats in the wake of the attack:
UK: 23
US: 60
Ukraine: 13
Canada: 4
France: 4
Germany: 4
Poland: 4
Czech Republic: 3
Lithuania: 3
Moldova: 3
Albania: 2
Australia: 2
Denmark: 2
Italy: 2
Spain: 2
Netherlands: 2
Norway: 1
Romania: 1
Sweden: 1
Croatia: 1
Estonia: 1
Finland: 1
Hungary: 1
Latvia: 1
Macedonia: 1
The co-ordinated move drew a furious response from Moscow, which accused Western allies of “blindly following the principle of the Euro-Atlantic unity to the detriment of common sense, the norms of civilised inter-state dialogue and the principles of international law”.
Speaking at the start of a debate on national security and Russia, she added: “Sergei and Yulia Skripal remain critically ill in hospital.
“Sadly, late last week, doctors indicated that their condition is unlikely to change in the near future, and they may never recover fully.
“This shows the utterly barbaric nature of this act, and the dangers that hundreds of innocent citizens in Salisbury could have faced.”
Mrs May said the UK had information indicating Russia has investigated ways of delivering nerve agents, probably for assassination, and has produced and stockpiled small quantities of Novichok as part of this programme.
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Hide AdIn Moscow, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, hinted the Kremlin would respond with tit-for-tat expulsions, saying Russia would proceed from the “principle of reciprocity”.
Russia has already ordered 23 British diplomats to leave in response to the expulsion of a similar number of undeclared Russian intelligence officers from the UK.
This story originally featured on our sister site iNews.