Russia bites back and vows to expel British diplomats

Vladimir Putin addresses supporters during a rally celebrating the fourth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea (Getty)

Russia will expel a number of British diplomats in retaliation to Theresa May’s raft of measures aimed at Moscow over the poisoning of a former double agent on UK soil.

Moscow, which denies using a nerve agent on former double agent Sergei Skripal on 4 March, made clear its own retaliatory measure on Wednesday morning just hours after Boris Johnson ratcheted up the war of words by saying Moscow’s ‘smug’ response revealed their guilt.

Mr Johnson added that ‘all responsible nations’ shared an obligation to take on Russian aggression that ‘threatens the very architecture of global security’.

The UK announced it was expelling 23 Russian diplomats – along with a raft of other measures –  yesterday after a deadline passed for President Putin to explain how a Russian nerve agent was used on Skripal on the streets of Salisbury.

In response, Russia’s Foreign ministry condemned the ‘absolutely insane accusations made by the UK prime minister against Russia’. It added that diplomatic notes sent to the Foreign Office had received replies that “made no sense”.

It is thought President Putin will take the final decision as to when retaliatory measures will be taken.

The US, France, Germany and Nato have already stated their support for Britain.

Amid heated debate at a UN meeting on Wednesday night, the US positioned itself full-square behind the UK, describing the use of chemical weapons in Britain as a ‘defining moment’.

May takes aim

 

Mrs May announced in a speech to MPs on Wednesday her raft of measures towards Russia.

 

The latest tit-for-tat actions were sparked by Mrs May in a speech to MPs on Wednesday in which she announced her raft of measures and accused Russia of responding to her demands for an explanation of events in Salisbury with ‘sarcasm, contempt and defiance’.

Mrs May said Russia had failed to provide any ‘credible’ explanation of events and of why it had ‘an undeclared chemical weapons programme in contravention of international law’.

Taking aim at President Putin directly, she added: ‘It is tragic that President Putin has chosen to act in this way. But we will not tolerate the threat to life of British people and others on British soil from the Russian Government.’

She stated the UK would:

• expel 23 diplomats, giving them one week to leave the country
• create new powers to detain those suspected of hostile state activity at the UK border.
• ask the Home Secretary to look at new counter-espionage powers to “clamp down on the full spectrum of hostile activities of foreign agents in our country”.
• take immediate actions to dismantle the Russian espionage network in the UK
• increased checks on private flights, customs and freight traffic to track those visiting the country
• freeze Russian state assets wherever there is evidence they may be used to threaten the life or property of UK nationals or residents
• continue to bring all the capabilities of UK law enforcement to bear against serious criminals and corrupt elites

Russia fires back

Russia initially responded by describing Mrs May’s statement as ‘an unprecedentedly rude provocation that undermines the foundations of a normal interstate dialogue between our countries’.

The Russian embassy also hit back by making a clear nod to the cold war in a tweet that read: “The temperature of Russia-UK relations drops to minus-23, but we are not afraid of cold weather.”

It added: ‘We consider this hostile action as totally unacceptable, unjustified and shortsighted. All the responsibility for the deterioration of the Russia-UK relationship lies with the current political leadership of Britain.’

And at the UN meeting, UN Security Council representative Vasily Nebenzya condemned the ‘completely irresponsible statements’ and ‘threats against a permanent member of the UN Security Council’.

Moscow has now made their retaliation clear, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying the expulsions would happen ‘soon. I promise you that’.

Boris’s ‘smug’ comments

Boris Johnson has called for Britain’s allies to support its stand against Russia as the UK braced for retaliation for expelling Kremlin diplomats en masse.

Mr Johnson also said the poison used in the Salisbury spy attack was specifically chosen to send a message to political dissenters. (Reuters)

The Foreign Secretary said “all responsible nations” shared an obligation to take on Russian aggression that “threatens the very architecture of global security”.

Writing in the Washington Post, Mr Johnson also said the poison used in the Salisbury spy attack was specifically chosen to send a message to political dissenters challenging Russian president Vladimir Putin.

“All responsible nations share an obligation to take a principled stance against this behaviour,” he said.

“The countermeasures announced by the Prime Minister are not solely about the attack in Salisbury.

“Britain is striving to uphold the rules on which the safety of every country depends. I hope and believe that our friends will stand alongside us.”

Mr Johnson said the Salisbury incident showed the Kremlin is “clearly willing to act without restraint” and fitted a pattern of “reckless behaviour” by Mr Putin.

He added: ‘There is something in the kind of smug, sarcastic response that we’ve heard that indicates their fundamental guilt. They want to simultaneously deny it, yet at the same time to glory in it.’

Labour in-fighting

Britain’s coherent response has been undermined by frictions on the Labour benches.

 

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn received fierce criticism from Conservatives and some of his own MPs after his team raised doubts about who was responsible for the Salisbury nerve agent attack.

A group of Labour backbenchers said it “unequivocally accepts” the Russian state’s culpability for the incident, while Theresa May said it was “outrageous” that Mr Corbyn’s spokesman had said there was a “problematic” history over the use of UK intelligence.

Asked if Mr Corbyn had undermined UK security assessments that it was “highly likely” Russia was behind their poisoning, Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith said: “Looking back, perhaps it would have been easier for us if he had made it clear at the beginning of what he said, just how much we support the expulsion of the diplomats.

“It would have been easier and perhaps we would not have had the conversations we are seeing.”