FILE PHOTO: Finnish President Sauli Niinisto (not in picture) meets Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov at the President's Official Residence Mantyniemi, Helsinki, Finland September 12, 2017. Lehtikuva/Martti Kainulainen/via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that Moscow would assess the levels of hostility which Washington and London feel towards Russia before retaliating over the expulsion of Russian diplomats, the Interfax news agency reported.

In the most sweeping action of its kind against Moscow since the height of the Cold War, the United States and European Union member states plan to expel scores of Russian diplomats to punish the Kremlin for a nerve agent attack on a former double agent and his daughter in England.

Russia, which denies any part in the March 4 attack, says the West’s action is a “provocative gesture” and has said it will respond.