Diplomatic war between Russia and the West

More countries react in the wake of the first use of a nerve agent in Europe since WWII.

Corina Cristea, 28.03.2018, 12:41

While Moscow continues to deny any involvement in the nerve agent attack against the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Great Britain on March 4, more and more countries are beginning to take measures against Russia.

Tens of countries have announced their intention to expel Russian officials, following the example of Great Britain, which expelled 23 Russian diplomats. Britains move was followed by a similar one from Kremlin. The US declared the largest number of personae non gratae among Russian officials, the Trump administration shutting down the Russian consulate in Seattle on grounds that it is too close to the largest American nuclear submarine base. The measure destroyed what had been left of bilateral relations, said the Russian ambassador in Washington, while the White House showed more readiness to improve its relations with Russia on condition that the Russian government changed its attitude.

EU countries consider as unacceptable the case of the nerve agent attack in the English city of Salisbury, and several states, including Romania, have already announced they are going to expel Russian diplomats. Common measures were adopted at European level last weekend at a European Council meeting, when the US declared its solidarity with Great Britain, arguing that Russia was most likely the mastermind of the attack and that there was no other plausible explanation. In Brussels, the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said that further measures, including expelling other Russian officials, were expected in the coming days and weeks.

Ukraine has also expelled 13 Russian diplomats to show solidarity with its British and trans-Atlantic allies and to coordinate its actions with the EU countries. Similar measures have been taken by the Republic of Moldova, Norway, Macedonia, Canada and Australia. NATO has reacted by expelling 7 Russian diplomats from the NATO Headquarters in Brussels and by calling on Russia to reduce the size of its diplomatic personnel accredited by this organisation to a maximum of 20 people. The announcement was made by the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who pointed out that these measures would limit Moscows capability to do intelligence work in NATO countries.

On the other hand, Russia keeps denying its involvement in this case, denouncing what it describes as provocative actions, and promising to retaliate.