CCTV News:On the 26th, the diplomatic war between Britain and Russia escalated into a new round of confrontation between the West and Russia, including the collective expulsion of more than 100 Russian diplomats by more than 20 western countries, including EU member States and the United States, in response to the poisoning incident of former Russian spies in Britain. This is the largest western expulsion of Russian diplomats since the Cold War. Let’s first sort out which countries have issued "marching orders" to Russian diplomats.
By 8: 00pm Beijing time on 27th, at least 25 countries had expelled about 140 Russian diplomats and intelligence personnel, including the United States (60), Canada (4), Australia (2), Ukraine (13), Albania (2), Norway (1) and Macedonia (1).
And 18 EU countries:
Britain (23), Germany (4), France (4), Italy (2), Spain (2), Netherlands (2), Czech Republic (3), Poland (4), Denmark (2), Sweden (1), Finland (1), Romania (1)
Russian diplomats bid farewell to each other (image source network)
British Prime Minister: Britain will take more actions in the future.
On 27th local time, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said that Theresa May said at a cabinet meeting that day that Britain would take more actions in the future in response to Russia’s alleged assassination of a former Russian double agent in Britain, and that Britain would continue to cooperate with its partners in the international community to deal with Russia’s provocation.
Iceland announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
In addition, Agence France-Presse reported that Iceland issued a statement on the 26th, deciding to support Britain and other western countries on the former Russian espionage incident. The measure taken by Iceland is to temporarily stop all high-level bilateral dialogues with Russian authorities. Therefore, Icelandic leaders will not attend the World Cup in Russia this summer.
The president of the United States spoke to the leaders of France and Germany.
On the 27th, US President Trump telephoned French President Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel respectively to discuss the expulsion of Russian diplomats and US-European trade. The White House issued a statement on the same day saying that both Trump and the leaders of France and Germany expressed their support for expelling Russian diplomats in response to the "poisoning" incident of former Russian agents in Britain.
US President Trump
Expelling Russian diplomat Italy "reluctant"
As a major member of the European Union, Italy also participated in this diplomatic action, but it was somewhat reluctant because of its good relations with Russia.
On 26th local time, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation issued a statement, saying that according to the decision of the European Council, in order to express its support for Britain, Italy will expel two diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Rome within one week.
Due to the close economic ties between Italy and Russia, and the people’s attitude towards Russia is relatively friendly, although the Italian government has participated in the unified action of the European Union, it cannot represent domestic public opinion. Experts in international relations said that Italy probably made such a choice after suffering great pressure within the EU.
Within the EU, many countries, like Italy, expelled one or two Russian diplomats to express the so-called "solidarity with Britain". Experts believe that some EU member states are reluctant to participate, while others even choose neutrality, which also shows that it is not in the interest of the EU to contribute to the diplomatic dispute between Britain and Russia.
Experts said that the EU and Russia share many common interests and there is no need to continue the Cold War mentality. There is no final conclusion about the poisoning of former Russian spies in Britain. Creating more tensions and disputes under such circumstances will not help solve the crisis.
The relationship between the EU and Russia may continue to decline.
Russian Foreign Minister: Such rude behavior will not be tolerated.
In the face of the joint efforts of the United States and other countries to expel Russian diplomats, Russia has always reacted strongly. On the 27th, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov once again stressed in an interview that Russia will not tolerate such rude behavior, and Russia will definitely fight back.
On the same day, Lavrov accused the United States of "exerting great pressure" on its allies to force them to expel their Russian diplomats. He said that this is the usual means of the United States in the international arena.
On the 26th, the US government announced that it would expel 60 Russian diplomats and close the Russian consulate in Seattle. Subsequently, Canada, Australia, France, Germany and other European countries also announced the expulsion of many Russian diplomats. Up to now, at least 25 countries have expelled about 140 Russian diplomats, which is the largest western expulsion of Russian diplomats since the Cold War. In this regard, Russia has repeatedly stated that it will take measures to respond as soon as possible.
Russian parliamentarian: The West demonizes Russia under the pretext.
Why did many western countries collectively intervene in the bilateral issues between Britain and Russia this time? What are the deep-seated contradictions hidden behind the Russian double-agent poisoning case?
Zheleznyak, a member of the Russian State Duma, believes that this is an unprecedented provocation and unwarranted collective diplomatic action by western countries headed by the United States against Russia. He said that all countries that initiate diplomatic sanctions against Russia will be subject to reciprocal retaliatory measures by Russia. However, the United States and its allies are eager to impose sanctions before the final investigation results of the "poisoning case" are announced, indicating that the "poisoning case" is the same as the previous accusations of Russian hacking and Russian intervention in the US election, which is an excuse for the West to demonize Russia.
Zheleznyak said that Britain has not provided the Russian side with the necessary case information in accordance with international practice, so that the joint investigation cannot be carried out. He said that according to the information held by Russia, more than 200 publications in western countries have appeared that kind of poison suspected of being used to poison Krippahl. He also stressed that a British laboratory about 12 kilometers away from the incident also mastered this poison.