Russia expels more UK envoys

MOSCOW -- The crisis between Russia and the West over the poisoning of a former double agent in Britain heightened Friday as Russia ordered new cuts to the number of British envoys in the country.

Russia also summoned 23 foreign ambassadors to inform them some of their diplomats would be expelled, a day after ordering 60 U.S. diplomats to leave and demanding Washington's consulate in St. Petersburg close on short notice.

The massive expulsion of diplomats on both sides has reached a scale unseen even at the height of the Cold War.

Two dozen countries, along with NATO, ordered out more than 150 Russian diplomats this week in a show of solidarity with Britain over the nerve-agent poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain, which London blamed on Russia.

Moscow has vehemently denied involvement in the March 4 nerve agent attack and announced the expulsion of the same number of diplomats from each nation.

The ministry escalated its response Friday, saying it has ordered Britain to reduce the number of its diplomats in Moscow to the level Russia has in London. The exact number wasn't immediately clear, but state news agency RIA Novosti quoted an unidentified Russian diplomat as saying the number of British diplomatic personnel in Russia exceeds the number of Russian envoys in Britain by more than 50 people.

The ministry said it summoned the British ambassador to hand him a protest over the "provocative and unsubstantiated actions by Britain, which instigated the expulsion of Russian diplomats from various nations for no reason." It gave London one month to reduce its diplomatic personnel in Russia.

Adding to the tensions, the ministry late Friday said a plane belonging to Russian state airline Aeroflot was being searched by police in London. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said there was no explanation given for the search, which she called "the latest provocation." The plane left London's Heathrow Airport for Moscow about three hours behind schedule.

Commenting on the Russian move to expel more U.K. diplomats, a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said "it's regrettable but in light of Russia's previous behavior, we anticipated a response."

"However, this 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 the Russian state was culpable," she said. "Russia is in flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention and actions by countries around the world have demonstrated the depth of international concern."

The expulsions affect not only the diplomats but their families as well, forcing them to take their children out of school in the middle of the year.

A hospital treating the Skripals said Thursday the 33-year-old daughter was improving rapidly and was now in stable condition but her 66-year-old father remained in critical condition.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted "Russia didn't start any diplomatic wars," and "remains open for developing good ties."

He added Russia has called a meeting of the international chemical weapons watchdog next week to press for an "unbiased and objective investigation."

Russia has accused Britain of failing to back up its accusations with evidence and refusing to share materials from the probe. The Foreign Ministry said it told the British ambassador Moscow is ready to cooperate in the investigation.

Earlier this week, the Russian Foreign Ministry alleged British special services could have been involved in the poisoning and claimed Britain, the U.S., the Czech Republic and Sweden all have researched the class of nerve agent London said was used to poison Skripal.

Britain and its allies have rejected the Russian nerve agent claims.

The countries informed Friday by Russia of diplomat expulsions were Australia, Albania, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Finland, France, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Estonia.

The Foreign Ministry added it would also consider mirror expulsions of diplomats from Belgium, Hungary, Georgia and Montenegro.

Bulgaria announced it would not expel any Russian diplomats. The country is heavily dependent on Russian gas supplies and tourists.