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Lavrov Threatens To ’Hit Back’ at Britain over Spy Skripal Poisoning

Lavrov Threatens To ’Hit Back’ at Britain over Spy Skripal Poisoning
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Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov threatened Wednesday to retaliate against Britain for "anti-Russian measures", with the two countries at loggerheads over the poisoning of a spy in southern England.

Lavrov Threatens To ’Hit Back’ at Britain over Spy Skripal Poisoning

Speaking after a meeting with Japanese counterpart Taro Kono, Lavrov said: "If the British government continues taking some anti-Russian measures, we will hit back under the principle of reciprocity."

Lavrov urged the British government to "respond calmly" over the March 4 attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who remain in critical condition.

Britain claimed that only Russia had the capability, motive and intent to be behind the attack, which used the nerve agent Novichok reportedly developed by the former Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed this as "nonsense".

Britain reacted by expelling 23 Russian diplomats and their families -- around 80 people in total -- and has also cut off high-level contacts.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said London was "actively considering" other measures.

On Tuesday, the head of the OPCW chemical watchdog said it would take two to three weeks to complete laboratory analysis of samples taken from the poisoning.

The incident has further damaged Russia's already shaky relations with many Western countries.

Skripal, 66, a former Russian officer who sold secrets to Britain and moved there in a 2010 spy swap, remains in a coma along with his 33-year-old daughter after they were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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