New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern | Andy Wharton/AFP via Getty Images New Zealand wants to expel Russian spies … but can’t find any ‘We don’t have Russian undeclared intelligence officers here. If we did, we would expel them,’ the prime minister said.

New Zealand would like to join other countries in expelling undeclared Russian officials to show solidarity with the U.K. — the only problem is, it can't find any.

"We have done a check in New Zealand. We don’t have Russian undeclared intelligence officers here," New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on radio station RNZ Tuesday. "If we did, we would expel them."

Sixteen EU members and the United States were among 20 countries to expel more than 100 Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the U.K. earlier this month.

The British government said the attempted assassinations, which involved the use of a Soviet-era military-grade nerve agent, could only have been carried out with Moscow’s involvement and expelled 23 Russian officials in response.

EU leaders on Thursday agreed to recall their ambassador from Moscow for consultations following the European Council’s formal declaration that it was “highly likely” Russia was behind a recent nerve agent attack in the U.K. Russia has denied any involvement.

New Zealand is a former British colony, and a member of the anglophone "Five Eyes" intelligence sharing network that includes the U.S., Britain, Canada and Australia. But Ardern said she was not surprised there were no Russian operatives in her country, given the "range of international interests" with which Moscow could be concerned.

"Does it surprise me New Zealand is not top of their list? No, actually," she said.