•113 officials in 21 countries affected
The United States and more than a dozen European nations kicked out Russian diplomats yesterday after Britain urged allies to respond to the poisoning of ex-Russian spy, Sergei Skripal who is taking refuge in England.
At least 113 alleged agents working under diplomatic cover were ordered out by 21 governments, dwarfing similar measures in even the most notorious Cold War spying disputes, and marking a British diplomatic victory. Britain has accused Moscow of perpetrating the attack using a Soviet-developed nerve agent known as Novichok. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats last week.
They are due to leave in the days and weeks to come. Britain welcomed its allies’ decision as a diplomatic and moral victory, after concerns that some would prefer not to offend Moscow despite international horror over the attack.
Washington led the way, ordering out 60 Russians, in a new blow to US-Russia ties less than a week after President Donald Trump congratulated Vladimir Putin on his re-election. Germany, Poland and France each planned to boot four, the Czech Republic three and Italy two.
Ukraine, a non-EU country with its own conflicts with Moscow, was expelling 13 Russians, President Petro Poroshenko said. All three Baltic states said they would kick diplomats out. Canada, too, said it was taking action, kicking out four and denying three who have applied to enter the country.
Russia’s Embassy in Washington responded on Twitter by hinting at retaliation, asking its followers to vote which U.S. consulate should be shuttered: St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg or Vladivostok. Russia will likely respond quid pro quo using the “principle of reciprocity,” the Kremlin said, a suggestion that Russia may expel an equal number of diplomats.
Almost all of the countries said publicly that the Russian diplomats they were expelling were actually spies. The Trump administration also ordered Russia’s consulate in Seattle to close. Warning of an “unacceptably high” number of Russian spies in the U.S., the Trump administration said 60 diplomats would be expelled, all Russian intelligence agents working under diplomatic cover, the U.S. said.
The group includes 48 “intelligence officers” and 12 posted to Russia’s mission to the United Nations who the officials said were engaged in “aggressive collection” of intelligence on American soil. Russia has denied it was behind the attempted assassination, which left Skripal and his daughter gravely ill in perhaps the first nerve agent attack in Europe since World War II.
And it warned that there would be a tit-for-tat response to those countries “pandering to British authorities” without, Moscow claims, fully understanding what had happened. But Western officials made it clear in announcing the expulsions that they share Britain’s assessment that only the Kremlin could have been behind the March 4 incident in Salisbury, England.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Washington and its allies were acting “in response to Russia’s use of a military-grade chemical weapon on the soil of the United Kingdom. The United States stands ready to cooperate to build a better relationship with Russia, but this can only happen with a change in the Russian government’s behavior.”
The move was one of the most significant actions Trump’s administration has taken to date to punish Moscow and Putin, especially over its intelligence activities. The last time they spoke, less than a week ago, Trump congratulated Putin for his re-election but didn’t raise the March 4 spy poisoning, Russia’s alleged election-meddling in the U.S. or its own tainted voting process, prompting dismayed critiques even from Trump’s fellow Republicans.
“This is the largest expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in United States history,” said U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman. Poland’s Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz called it “the right response to the unfriendly, aggressive actions of Russia.” In the Czech Republic, where Russian officials have claimed the poison may have originated, Prime Minister Andrej Babis dismissed that allegation as “an utter lie.”