Russia vows retaliation over British diplomatic expulsions

Source: Washington Examiner | March 14, 2018 | Joel Gehrke

Russian retaliation against the United Kingdom over Prime Minister Theresa May’s accusation of an alleged assassination attempt “will not be long in coming,” the Russian Foreign Ministry promised.

“[T]he British Government is again seeking to launch a groundless anti-Russian campaign,” the Foreign Ministry said in a Wednesday bulletin. “Needless to say, our response measures will not be long in coming.”

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Russia accused May of using a “false pretext” to degrade relations between the two sides. “We believe it is absolutely unacceptable and unworthy of the British Government to seek to further seriously aggravate relations in pursuit of its unseemly political ends, having announced a whole series of hostile measures, including the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats from the country,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Skripal was released to the UK in 2010 as part of a spy swap, six years after being convicted of treason. He and his daughter are in critical condition after being poisoned by “a military-grade nerve agent,” May told British lawmakers on Monday, when she first blamed Russia for the incident. May set a Wednesday deadline for an explanation, but Russian officials rejected that ultimatum and accused her of short-circuiting the established mechanism for investigating the use of chemical weapons.

“You know, this kind of conceit shows in almost all the steps London has been taking — not only in this particular case,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

May maintained that she gave Russia a clear opportunity to respond to the poisoning incident over the last two days.

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