The Latest: Russia to expel same number of envoys as West
By Associated Press
Mar 29, 2018 12:15 PM CDT
FILE - In this Tuesday, March 6, 2018 file photo, police officers stand outside the house of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England. British police say they believe a Russian ex-spy and his daughter first came into contact with a military-grade nerve agent at their front door....   (Associated Press)

MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on the nerve agent attack on an Russian ex-spy in Britain (all times local):

9:10 p.m.

Russia's foreign minister says Moscow will expel the same number of diplomats from the nations that have expelled Russian diplomats over the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain.

Sergey Lavrov said U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, where he was given notice that Russia is responding quid pro quo to the U.S. decision to order 60 Russian diplomats out.

Lavrov said Moscow will also retaliate to the U.S. decision to shut the Russian consulate in Seattle by closing the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg.

Lavrov said the same approach will be applied to other nations that expelled Russian diplomats this week.

Two dozen countries, including the U.S., many EU nations and NATO, have ordered more than 150 Russian diplomats out this week in a show of solidarity with Britain.

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8:15 p.m.

Russia's Foreign Ministry says Britain, the U.S., the Czech Republic and Sweden all have researched a nerve agent that London said was used to poison an ex-Russian spy in Britain.

The ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said Thursday that the Western research into the class of nerve agent called Novichok was reflected in numerous open source documents of NATO members.

Britain has accused Russia of involvement in the March 4 poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, saying they were poisoned with the Soviet-designed agent called Novichok, the accusations Russia has fiercely denied. Britain and its allies have dismissed previous Moscow claims that they possessed that type of nerve agent.

Zakharova accused London of failing to provide evidence and stonewalling Russian demands for access to materials in the probe.

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6:35 p.m.

The Russian Foreign Ministry says Moscow will retaliate shortly to the Russian diplomats' expulsions over the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain.

The ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said Thursday the Russian response will come "in the nearest time."

Two dozen countries, including the U.S. and many EU nations, have ordered more than 150 Russian diplomats out this week in a show of solidarity with Britain. Zakharova said the expulsions came after "colossal" pressure from Washington and London, adding that the nations that succumbed to it "made a grave mistake."

She denounced Britain's assertion that Russia was behind the nerve agent attack on ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter as a "swindle" and an "international provocation."

Zakharova insisted that Moscow is demanding access to materials of the investigation.

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5:20 p.m.

British health officials say the daughter of a Russian ex-spy has responded well to treatment and is no longer in critical condition after a nerve-agent attack.

Yulia Skripal's father Sergei remains in critical condition.

Salisbury NHS Trust, which oversees the hospital where the pair are being treated, says 33-year-old Yulia is "improving rapidly and is no longer in a critical condition. Her condition is now stable."

Medical director Dr. Christine Blanshard says "she has responded well to treatment but continues to receive expert clinical care 24 hours a day."

Yulia Skripal and her father, an ex-spy, were found unconscious in the English city of Salisbury on March 4.

British authorities say they were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent and have blamed Russia. Moscow denies involvement in the attack, which has sparked a diplomatic crisis between Russia and the West.

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4:25 p.m.

The former Soviet republic of Georgia says it will expel a Russia diplomat in solidarity with Britain over the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian spy.

Thursday's announcement follows the expulsion of more than 150 Russian diplomats by European Union nations, the United States, NATO and other countries in response to the March 4 poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Georgia severed diplomatic ties with Russia following a brief war in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia. Russian diplomats have been operating out of the special interests section of the Swiss embassy in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, since 2009.

Georgia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the diplomat has been declared persona non grata and must leave within a week. The ministry condemned the poisoning, calling it a "serious challenge to common security."