Britain’s top diplomat accuses Putin of being behind Russian spy poisoning
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Russia confirms it will expel British diplomats in retaliation.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Friday it was “overwhelmingly likely” that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind the poisoning of a Russian former spy, the most direct British accusation against the Russian leader to date.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov immediately shot back, saying that bringing up Putin in the context of the case was “shocking and unforgivable in terms of diplomatic behavior.”
The poisoning of 66-year-old Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury with a nerve agent identified by British authorities as one made only by Russia has thrown the two countries’ relations into a profound crisis.
Aside from confirming it would expel some British diplomats, without giving the number, Russia has been coy about its potential responses.
“The Russian side has made its decisions on tit-for-tat measures, and the British side will be notified of them not in the next few hours, but in the near future,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Interfax on Friday.
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