Description: MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia on Saturday announced it is expelling 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.
Date: 2018-03-17T03:14:48-07:00

# Russia Retaliates: 23 British Diplomats Expelled, British Council Shut Down

MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images

by Breitbart London 17 Mar 2018 0

17 Mar, 2018 17 Mar, 2018

## MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Saturday announced it is expelling 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that it is ordering the closure of the British Council, a government organization for cultural and scientific co-operation, and that it is ending an agreement to reopen the British consulate in St. Petersburg.

It ordered the diplomats to leave within a week.

The statement said the government could take further measures if Britain takes any more “unfriendly” moves toward Russia. British Ambassador Laurie Bristow was called to the Foreign Ministry Saturday morning to be informed of the moves.

British Prime Minister Theresa May this week expelled 23 Russian diplomats and severed high-level bilateral contacts over the March 4 poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. They remain in critical condition in hospital.

Britain’s foreign secretary accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the poisoning of the Skripals, who were found slumped on a public bench in the southern English city of Salisbury. Putin’s spokesman denounced the claim.

While Russia has vigorously denied involvement in the attack, Western powers see it as the latest sign of alleged Russian meddling abroad. The tensions threaten to overshadow Putin’s expected re-election Sunday for another six-year presidential term.

Meanwhile, new tensions have surfaced over the death this week of a London-based Russian businessman, Nikolai Glushkov. British police said Friday that he died from compression to the neck and opened a murder investigation.

Russia also suspects foul play in Glushkov’s death and opened its own inquiry Friday.

British police said there is no apparent link between the attack on Glushkov and the poisoning of the Skripals, but both have raised alarm in the West at a time when Russia is increasingly assertive on the global stage and facing investigations over alleged interference in the Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president.

The source of the nerve agent — which Britain says is Soviet-made Novichok — is unclear, as is the way it was administered. Russia has demanded that Britain share samples collected by investigators.

Top EU diplomats were expected to discuss next steps at a meeting Monday, with some calling for a boycott of the upcoming World Cup in Russia. British Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking a global coalition of countries to punish Moscow.

___

Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story.

##### Follow Breitbart London on Facebook: Breitbart London

Comment count on this article reflects comments made on Breitbart.com and Facebook. Visit Breitbart's Facebook Page.

BREITBART CONNECT

## MOST POPULAR

- Jeff Sessions Gives Andy McCabe the Boot, May Deny Him FBI Pension
- It Begins: Florida Resident’s Firearms, Ammunition Confiscated Under Gun Control Law
- Maher: McCabe’s Firing Is ‘Just Mean’
- Rush Limbaugh: Mueller Wants to Nullify Trump’s $900M Tax Deduction — from 1995 — to ‘Ruin Him’
- Danny Tarkanian Drops Senate Bid to Challenge Dean Heller After Trump Tweet
- Special Congressional Election in Pennsylvania Still Too Close to Call, Outcome Hangs on 3,200 Absentee Ballots
- Nancy Pelosi Under Fire: Democrats Struggle with How to Handle Deeply Unpopular Leader in Midterms
- Black Pastors Call on Rep. Maxine Waters to Condemn Louis Farrakhan’s ‘Leftist Hate Speech’
- ‘Despicable’: Police Memo Said Telford Girls ‘Consented’ to Sex Abuse with Groomers
- California Appoints Illegal Alien to State Office

Politics of Farrakhan
Tommy Robinson
Democrats Use Crisis to Take Freedom

## FROM THE HOMEPAGE

- Dem Rep Garamendi: ‘This Presidency Is a Very Serious Security Threat’ — ‘It Is Time to Get This Guy Out’
  Comments
- Dem Rep Swalwell: McCabe Firing ‘Sending a Message’ to Those ‘Who May Have Seen Something’ – ‘They’re Trying to Dirty Him’
  Comments
- Fox News Anchor Shepard Smith Calls American Politics ‘Weird and Creepy’
  Comments
- Wage Growth for American Workers Threatened by Lack of Wall, Expected Rise in Illegal Immigration
  Comments
- Gun Owners of America: ‘No Guns Allowed’ Signs Less Effective than Teachers that Shoot Back
  Comments
- NPR: Parkland Attack Was Horrible but There Is No School Shooting Epidemic
  Comments
- Russia Retaliates: 23 British Diplomats Expelled, British Council Shut Down
  Comments
- U.N. Envoy: Turkey ‘War Crimes’ Against Christians in Syria Foreshadow ‘Genocide’
  Comments
- WATCH – Shiite Interfaith Activist: Islamic State’s Terror ‘Deeply Rooted in Islam’
  Comments
- Hong Kong Plans Three-Year Jail Sentences for Mocking the Chinese National Anthem
  Comments
- Chinese Reporter Goes Missing After Viral Eyeroll Embarrasses Emperor Xi
  Comments
- South Korea Prepares for Summit with North Korea, Possible Trump-Kim Meeting
  Comments