May says 'long term international response' against Russia in the works

Theresa May has said that the expulsion of Russian diplomats from almost two dozen countries was not done out of solidarity with the UK, but as an acknowledgement by foreign capitals of the serious threat posed by Russia’s behaviour. The Prime Minister also said that further sanctions were under discussion.

The United States and 22 European nations took action against Russia over the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter and are in the process of expeling Russian diplomats from their embassies.

Moscow still denies any involvement in the incident and has vowed to respond against the "unjustified" sanctions, which it described as "provocative gestures2.

A spokesman for the PM said that the PM had told her Cabinet members that: "Yesterday was a significant moment in our response to this reckless act of aggression, but there is still more to be done as we work with international partners on a long-term response to the challenge posed by Russia."

The Kremlin also accused the UK of starting an anti-Russia campaign, with Russian Ambassador to Sydney, Grigory Logvinov, saying in a press conference Down Under that "If the West would follow this line [anti-Russia campaign], I'm afraid we'll be deeply in a Cold War situation."

Earlier, Mr Logvinov said Britain lacked evidence that the nerve agent that was used was Russian.

"To identify this nerve agent came from Russia... you need samples of this agent which came from Russia. Where did they come from? Where do the British get them from?"