Russia will deport 23 British diplomats, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The 23 British diplomats will have to leave Russia within a week, the ministry added.
Russia is withdrawing permission for Britain to open a consulate general in St. Petersburg, the Russian Foreign Ministry also said, adding that the British Council in Russia is closing.
Finally, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that it reserves the right to announce further measures in the event that Britain takes further hostile steps.
Earlier, the British ambassador to Moscow, Lori Bristow, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry for a second time this week, and he said after the meeting that the Russian authorities had informed him of the steps they would take in response to the move. Britain for the deportation of 23 Russian diplomats.
The British ambassador was summoned to appear before the Russian Foreign Ministry last Tuesday in the context of the crisis that erupted in Britain after the poisoning of the former Russian double spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with a neuroparalytic substance.