Fourteen European Union countries announced today they are to expel a total of 30 Russian diplomats in a coordinated international response to the nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.
Germany, France and Poland led the way in Europe with four expulsions each, while across the Atlantic, the White House announced it was throwing out 60 alleged spies and closing the Russian consulate in Seattle.
An EU source said more member states would announce expulsions in the coming days over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in the English town of Salisbury earlier this month.
"As a direct follow-up to last week's European Council decision to react to Russia within a common framework, already today 14 member states have decided to expel Russian diplomats," EU President Donald Tusk told a news conference in Varna, Bulgaria.
"Additional measures including further expulsions are not to be excluded in the coming days and weeks."
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