It is a cascading expulsion of Russian diplomats over the alleged poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain as the United States expelled 60 and Europe 14 in a show of solidarity that represents the biggest concerted blow to Russian intelligence networks in the west since the cold war.
President Trump who has broken ranks with his allies suddenly return into the fold joining Poland, Italy, Denmark, France and Germany who were among 14 European Union member nations announcing plans to expel Russians. Canada and Ukraine are also expelling Russian diplomats.
About 100 Russian diplomats in western countries alleged to be spies are being told to return to Moscow. The US has ordered the expulsion of 60 Russian officials who Washington says are spies, including a dozen based at the United Nations.
EU members Germany, France and Poland are each to expel four Russian diplomats with intelligence agency backgrounds. Lithuania and the Czech Republic said they would expel three with Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands expelling two each. Ukraine, which is not an EU member, is to expel 13 Russian diplomats, and Canada four.
Canada also announced it was expelling four diplomatic staff serving in Ottowa and Montreal, who the Canadian government said were “intelligence officers or individuals who have used their diplomatic status to undermine Canada’s security or interfere in our democracy”.
Russia has denied it carried out the attack on Mr. Skripal, a former Russian intelligence official and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury.
