EU to recall envoy to Russia over spy attack: officials

EU leaders decided today to recall the bloc's envoy to Russia after backing Britain's assessment that Moscow was likely behind a nerve agent attack on an ex-spy, officials said.

A number of EU countries are also considering expelling Russian diplomats or recalling their own envoys following the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England.

"After agreeing on attribution, they continued the discussions on how could they go beyond just words and actually really have some deeds," a senior EU official said after the first day of the summit.

"Some member states are looking into possibly expelling Russian diplomats or recalling national diplomats.

"But there was also an agreement to recall the EU ambassador to Moscow for consultations."