ASTANA: Moscow will expel British diplomats in response to London’s move tokick out 23 Russian officials over the poisoning of ex-double agent SergeiSkripal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
“Of course we will,” Lavrov told journalists when asked whether Moscow willrespond in kind to the expulsion of Russian diplomats announced by BritishPrime Minister Theresa May.
Lavrov was speaking in the Kazakh capital Astana following talks on Syriawith the foreign ministers of Iran and Turkey.
The Russian foreign minister on Thursday said Moscow would respond byexpelling British diplomats “soon”.
He said his country had no motive to target Skripal, but suggested otherscould use the poisoning to “complicate” the World Cup.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier said Vladimir Putin wouldultimately choose the option that “most suits Moscow’s interests”.
In a rare joint statement, the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and theUS on Thursday condemned the attack on Skripal and his daughter Yulia as an“assault on UK sovereignty”.
The escalating international scandal is unfolding as Skripal and hisdaughter remain in critical condition after exposure to the Soviet-designedchemical Novichok on March 4 in the English city of Salisbury. – APP/AFP