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France undermined Theresa May's hopes of a united European response to the Sergei Skripal nerve agent attack - accusing her of "fantasy politics".

The intervention came just hours after Britain announced plans to expel 23 Russian diplomats .

President Emmanuel Macron's spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said it was too early for Paris to decide whether action should be taken and it's too soon to prove Russian involvement.

He said: “We don’t do fantasy politics. Once the elements are proven, then the time will come for decisions to be made.”

Griveaux said France was waiting for “definitive conclusions” and evidence that the “facts were completely true” before taking a position.

Theresa May announced a series of sanctions against Moscow, including expelling 23 Russian diplomats, and closer monitoring of Russian agents and financial interests in the UK.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock) (Image: AFP) (Image: The Times)

Later in the day French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian later expressed full confidence in the investigations being carried out by Britain, though he too was careful not to say directly that Russia was behind the attack.

Le Drian said that not only was the security of one of France’s main allies at stake, but also that of France and Europe because a lethal nerve agent had been used despite international rules against chemical weapons proliferation.

Earlier Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also failed to back May's verdict that Russia was responsible for the attack, which he called “an appalling act of violence”.

He said: “Nerve agents are abominable if used in any war. It is utterly reckless to use them in a civilian environment.”

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It came as US ambassador Nikki Haley offered a full throated defence of the UK at a specially called meeting of United Nation's Security Council.

She said: "The United States stands in absolute solidarity with Great Britain.

"The United States believes that Russia is responsible for the attack on two people in the United Kingdom using a military-grade nerve agent. Dozens of civilians and first responders were also exposed.

"If we don't take immediate concrete measures to address this now, Salisbury will not be the last place we see chemical weapons used. This is a defining moment."

(Image: Anadolu)

The Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, told the UN: "We demand that material proof be provided of the allegedly found Russian trace in this high-resonance event.

"Without this, stating that there is incontrovertible truth is not something that we can take into account."

Russia's Ministry for Foreign Affairs branded Mrs May's statement as "an unprecedentedly crude provocation that undermines the foundations of a normal interstate dialogue between our countries"