On Friday, the ambassadors from another 23 countries were informed that some of their diplomats would be expelled from Russia. In astonishing scenes, the ambassadors lined up one-by-one in black sedans outside Russia's Foreign Ministry in front of television cameras. Each ambassador was called into an office for half an hour and informed of how many staff would be ordered to leave. Australia's ambassador to Russia, Peter Tesch, was among the diplomats summoned to the foreign ministry, AAP reported. The diplomatic mission in Moscow has 10 staff. The procession began with the German, French and Italian ambassadors in the early afternoon. They were greeted with scores of cameras perched by the ministry's looming grey doors, which still bear the hammer and sickle insignia of the Soviet Union. Ambassadors from (L-R) Canada, Britain and Germany are pictured leaving the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday after being summoned to hear how many of their staff would be expelled. Credit:AP

Rudiger Freiherr von Fritsch, the German ambassador, made some brief comments after his meeting. "I used today's opportunity to emphasise two things," he said. "The first is that it is still in Germany's interests to have good relations with Russia ... We remain open to dialogue." Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that each ambassador was handed "protest notes and told that in response to the unwarranted demands of the relevant states on expelling Russian diplomats... that the Russian side declares the corresponding number of staff working in those countries' embassies in the Russian Federation persona non grata". The countries informed of 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. Russia is considering mirroring expulsions of diplomats from Belgium, Hungary, Georgia and Montenegro.

Poisoned: Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripa, 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, 33. Credit:AP Earlier in the week, 60 US diplomats were expelled and the US consulate in St Petersburg closed in retaliation for Washington's moves. Staff were seen removing boxes from the US consulate and ordering large amounts of pizza on Friday. Britain and Russia have expelled 23 of each other's diplomats over the first known use of a military-grade nerve agent on European soil since World War II, but Laurie Bristow, Britain's ambassador, was summoned again on Friday.

Loading Bristow was told that Britain must reduce the number of its diplomats in Moscow to the level that Russia has in London. That exact number wasn't immediately clear. When Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats earlier this month, Russian Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko said it represented a 40 per cent cut in the number of embassy personnel. Commenting on the Russian move, 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 that 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."

Loading 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 on Thursday that the 33-year-old daughter Yulia was improving rapidly and was now in stable condition, although her 66-year-old father remained in critical condition. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that "Russia didn't start any diplomatic wars," and "remains open for developing good ties". He added that 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. Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop meets with Russian ambassador to Australia Grigory Logvinov, this week to discuss the diplomatic crisis. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The Russian embassy in London tweeted a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying that Britain and the US "do most to undermine any trust element in international relations". Earlier this week, the Russian Foreign Ministry alleged that British special services could have been involved in the poisoning and claimed that Britain, the US, the Czech Republic and Sweden all have researched the class of nerve agent that London said was used to poison Skripal. After Russia expelled several dozen US diplomats, the waiting list for US visa applications in Russia has increased to weeks, if not months, as the US Embassy said it was unable to process visa applications faster because of the staff shortage.

Russia also warned that the expulsions of its diplomats could slow down issuing visas. In a statement that reflects the soaring tensions, Moscow accused Washington of trying to recruit the Russian diplomats it has expelled as spies. AP, Fairfax Media