MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia expelled 23 British diplomats on Saturday in a carefully calibrated retaliatory move against London, which has accused the Kremlin of orchestrating a nerve toxin attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in southern England. The Russian foreign ministry has invited foreign envoys to a meeting on 21 March with arms control experts to discuss the affair, the state-run TASS news agency reported on Tuesday. The move followed Britain’s decision on Wednesday to expel 23 Russian diplomats over the attack in the English city of Salisbury which left former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, 33, critically ill in hospital. Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia, 33, remain hospitalized in critical condition after being found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury on March 4. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, insisted Tuesday that “Russia has no stocks of chemical weapons of any kind.”

Asked why Russia isn’t showing proof of innocence, Putin said, “let’s stay sober-minded and first of all wait for proof from Britain” that Russia is to blame. Escalating a crisis in relations, Russia said it was also shutting down the activities of the British Council, which fosters cultural links between the two countries, and Britain’s consulate-general in St. Petersburg. We destroyed all our chemical weapons under the supervision of international organisations, and we did it first, unlike some of our partners who promised to do it, but unfortunately did not keep their promises,” Putin said.
All 23 Russian diplomats expelled from the UK and their families depart on a flight to Moscow.