Russia Expels 23 United Kingdom Diplomats As Crisis Deepens

Russia announced the expulsion of 23 United Kingdom diplomats on Saturday and informed them they would have a week to leave the country. Russia's Foreign Ministry also revoked the permit for the British consulate to operate in Saint Petersburg.

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The measures are a response to the U.K.’s decision on March 4 to expel 23 Russian diplomats and Prime Minister Theresa May’s accusations against Russia, blaming the country for a nerve toxin attack on a former Russian double agent, Serguei Skripal, and his daughter in Salisbury, U.K.

Moscow announced the diplomatic retaliation on the eve of Russia’s presidential elections, which incumbent Vladimir Putin should comfortably win because he is leading the polls.

Shortly after the attack, Russia offered their collaboration to investigate the case and requested the U.K. government access to the compound used in the attack so that Russian experts could test it in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which both parties have adhered.

May didn’t accept Russia’s collaboration without providing explanations.

On Wednesday the U.K. requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council; a move criticized by Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia.

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Nebenzia also dismissed the U.K.’s theory, which posits the substance used in the attack against Skripal could only have come from Russia. “For British specialists to be able to establish the gas is Novichok, they must have a standard of control. To prove that this is the compound, it must be compared by the corresponding standard. If the British say it is Novichok gas, then a priori they must have a standard of the substance,” Nebenzia argued.

The U.K.’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement reiterating Russia’s alleged responsibility for the attack. “Russia’s response doesn’t change the facts of the matter - the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable,” the Ministry said.

This stance is backed by the United States, Germany, and France, all of which have issued calls on Russia to explain the attack.

This diplomatic crisis has plunged Russia-U.K. relations to the lowest they’ve been since the Cold War.