Moscow will respond harshly to a US decision to expel 60 Russian diplomats, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, has said, but added that it was still open to strategic stability talks with Washington.
The US said on Monday it would expel 60 Russian diplomats, joining governments across Europe in punishing the Kremlin for a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Britain that they have blamed on Moscow.
More than 20 western allies have ordered the expulsion of dozens of Russian diplomats in a show of solidarity with the UK that represents the biggest concerted blow to Russian intelligence networks in the west since the cold war.
More than 100 Russian diplomats alleged to be spies in western countries are being told to return to Moscow, in a coordinated response to the use of a chemical weapon in the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian intelligence official, and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury on 4 March.
In a sombre statement in the House of Commons on Monday, Theresa May welcomed what she said was “the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history”.
“I have found great solidarity from our friends and partners in the EU, North America, Nato and beyond over the past three weeks as we have confronted the aftermath of the Salisbury incident,” the prime minister said. “And together we have sent a message that we will not tolerate Russia’s continued attempts to flout international law and undermine our values.”
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