UK suspends diplomatic contact with Russia over spy poisoning – May

“Under the Vienna Convention, the United Kingdom will now expel 23 Russian diplomats who have been identified as undeclared intelligence officers,” May told Parliament. “They have just one week to leave.” The prime minister said the biggest expulsions from London in 30 years would degrade Russian intelligence capabilities in Britain for years to come. The UK will also suspend high-level bilateral contact with Russia and revoke an invitation to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to visit. “We will freeze Russian state assets wherever we have the evidence that they may be used to threaten the life or property of UK nationals or residents,” May added. May said she had come to the conclusion that Russia was culpable for the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal and his daughter. Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found slumped unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre in the genteel southern English city of Salisbury on Mar 4. They have been in a critical condition in hospital ever since. “There is no alternative conclusion, other than that the Russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of Mr Skripal and his daughter, and for threatening the lives of other British citizens in Salisbury,” May said. AP]]>