Nato expels Russian diplomats after Salisbury nerve agent attack Nato has thrown out seven Russian diplomats and refused access to three more as it joined the coordinated response from […]

Nato has thrown out seven Russian diplomats and refused access to three more as it joined the coordinated response from Western countries in the wake of the nerve agent attack in Salisbury.

The chief of the international security agency said the decision would send a clear signal to Moscow that there would be “costs and consequences” to its increased hostility in recent years.

“What triggered this was the Salisbury attack. But it is part of a broader response by Nato allies to a pattern of unacceptable and dangerous behaviour by Russia,” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.

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Pattern of behaviour

“We have seen the illegal annexation of Crimea, we have seen the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine, we have seen cyber attacks, we have seen hybrid tactics, we have seen Russia investing heavily in modern military equipment and the willingness to use military force against neighbours.”

It means the Russian Mission attached to the agency will be slashed from 30 down to 2o.

Nato’s intervention came as it was revealed that 26 countries have now joined the UK in removing Russian envoys as part of joint action against the Kremlin.

Theresa May hailed the “unprecedented series of expulsions” of Russian diplomats across the globe following the assassination attempt against Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia earlier this month.

Downing Street saying that more than 115 Russian diplomats had been ordered home by friends and allies, Dublin added one more to the list.

Mrs May’s spokesman said the PM told the Cabinet the move against Russia was “an unprecedented series of expulsions that has demonstrated to the Kremlin that we will not tolerate their attempts to flout international law, undermine our values or threaten our security”.

“The Prime Minister said the conditions demonstrate the continuing strength of our European. transatlantic and international alliances and partnerships.”

Mr Skripal and his daughter were left critically ill following the Salisbury attack, with the PM saying doctors have indicated their condition is unlikely to change in the near future and they “may never recover fully”.

Russia has denied any involvement.

In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, hinted the Kremlin would respond with tit-for-tat expulsions, saying Russia would proceed from the “principle of reciprocity”.

Provocative gesture

Russia has already ordered 23 British diplomats to leave in response to the expulsion of a similar number of undeclared Russian intelligence officers from the UK.

The Russian foreign ministry said: “This provocative gesture of notorious solidarity with London, made by countries that preferred to follow in London’s footsteps without bothering to look into other circumstances of the incident, merely continues the policy of escalating the confrontation.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has resisted calls for the England football team to boycott the World Cup in Russia in the wake of the Salisbury incident.