US expels 60 Russian diplomats as EU members follow suit in response to Salisbury spy poisoning
Donald Trump has expelled 60 Russian diplomats from America as punishment for the Salisbury poisoning and to protect the country from spying.
Donald Tusk, the European Council president, announced coordinated expulsions of 32 Russian diplomats in 14 of the EU’s member states.
After Britain expelled 23 Russian intelligence official operating under diplomatic cover, the total of European-based spies expelled is 55.
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“Additional measures including further expulsions,” Mr Tusk said, “are not excluded in the coming days and weeks.”
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has said the country's response will be based on the principle of reciprocity, adding that the decision by Western countries was a "mistake".
The expulsions were welcomed by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson who said on Twitter: "Today's extraordinary international response by our allies stands in history as the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers ever & will help defend our shared security. Russia cannot break international rules with impunity."
Some 48 diplomats at the Russian embassy in the US have been asked to leave and 12 Russians who work at the United Nations. The Russian consulate in Seattle will also be closed.
Senior US administration officials said the Russians being expelled were intelligence officers who are being "cloaked" by their diplomatic status.
US officials said that the lives of "countless" innocent people including children had been put at risk by the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. They also blamed the Kremlin directly for the attack.
A senior US administration official said: "This was a reckless attempt by the government to murder a British citizen and his daughter on British soil with a military-grave nerve agent. It cannot go unanswered.
“The Salisbury attack was only the latest in a long series of Russian efforts to undermine international peace and stability.
“The Russian government has shown malicious contempt for the sovereignty and security of countries worldwide. It has repeatedly sought to subvert and discredit Western institutions. These efforts are ongoing.
“Today we stand in solidarity with America's closest ally, the United Kingdom. To the Russian government we say: ‘When you attack our friends you will face serious consequences.”
The diplomats and their families have seven days to leave the country. Moscow's ambassador to Washington warned the US was "destroying what little is left of relations with Russia".
A number of European Union member states, including Germany and Poland, have announced similar moves this morning.
“Russia has gone too far. An assassination attempt in a European city with a Russian nerve agent is completely unacceptable. The UK has our full support.,” tweeted Danish prime minister Lars Rasmussen.
Theresa May scored a diplomatic victory at a Brussels summit of EU leaders on Thursday. Heads of state and government criticised the Salisbury attack and agreed it was highly probable Russia was responsible.
The EU recalled its ambassador to Moscow for consultations which was described by Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday as “unprecedented”.
“The European Council condemned in the strongest possible terms the recent attack in Salisbury,” Mr Tusk said at a press conference in Varna, Bulgaria. He is in Bulgaria for EU talks with Turkey.
Germany, France and Poland are expelling four suspected spies each. Linas Linkevicius, Lithuania’s foreign minister, tweeted that his country would expel three Russian spies and sanction 21 Russians and ban 23 from entering Lithuania.
The Czech Republic have kicked out three diplomats and the Danes and Italians are expelling two each.
The Netherlands, Spain and Latvia are expelling two Russian intelligence officials each and Romania, Croatia, Hungary and Estonia are expelling one each. Ireland is expected to follow suit when it makes an announcement tomorrow.
French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: "In solidarity with our British partners, we have today notified the Russian authorities of our decision to expel from the French territory four Russian personnel with diplomatic status, within one week."
Although not a member of the EU, the Ukraine showed solidarity with its neighbours by expelling 13 Russian diplomats.
US officials said the 60 Russians were part more more than 100 spies operating in America. They said they would make decisions in the future about what to do with those remaining.
Mr Trump has not discussed the move with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. US officials did not rule out the possibility of new economic sanctions on Russia as punishment for Salisbury, saying instead when asked that there was nothing to announce.
The action comes after more than a fortnight of mixed messages over America’s willingness to take a tough line on Russia for the Salisbury poisoning.
The White House declined to point the finger at Russia explicitly the day Theresa May linked the Kremlin with the attack during an address in the House of Commons.
Mr Trump also failed to mention that attack during a phone call with Mr Putin last week and at times has not matched critical rhetoric of cabinet colleagues and officials.
Senior US administration officials pushed back on the suggestion they had been sending “mixed messages” on Monday, saying that they stood with Britain over the attack.
A No 10 spokesman said: "We welcome today's actions by our allies, which clearly demonstrate that we all stand shoulder to shoulder in sending the strongest signal to Russia that it cannot continue to flout international law."
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, visiting Estonia, also welcomed the expulsions. "I think that is the very best response that we can have because their intention, their aim, is to divide and what we are seeing is the world uniting behind the British stance," he said.
"That in itself is a great victory and that sends an exceptionally powerful message to the Kremlin and President Putin."
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