Boris Johnson has hailed the ejection of more than 100 Russian diplomats from 14 EU countries and the United States as the 'largest collective expulsion of Russian spies in history'.
"Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand." Ezekiel 39:1-3 (KJV)
EDITOR'S NOTE: In a stunning move, 17 nations have banded together to expel Putin's Russian 'diplomats', who are really nothing more than spies. For his part, Putin is vowing 'reciprocity' against those nations who removed his minions, threatening the US in particular. The speed at which this is all assembling leads me to think it may be connected with the 70th anniversary of regathered Israel in the middle of May. In any event, we will certainly be keeping an eye on this in the meantime.
Russian diplomats in the EU, Ukraine, the US and Canada were given their marching orders today, with a furious President Putin set to 'respond to every country' in kind, a Kremlin spokesperson said.
Russia's ambassador to the U.S. said the move had 'ruined what is left of Russian-U.S. ties,' threatening Washington by saying they will bear responsibility for the consequences.
The United States is expelling 60 Russians over the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal as Moscow is frozen out of the international community. Canada followed suit by expelling three Kremlin staffers.
Germany, France and Poland each expelled four diplomats, which Lithuania, Lativa and the Czech Republic also took action. Ukraine - not an EU state - joined the European revolt by expelling 13 diplomats.
Britain led the way in the aftermath of the March 4 attack by expelling 23 Russian diplomats from London. The Kremlin kicked out 23 Britons as a reprisal.
In a statement to the House of Commons, Prime Minister Theresa May said 18 countries had united today to expel more than 100 diplomats in solidarity with Britain. The Prime Minister echoed the Foreign Secretary when she told MPs this was the 'largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence in our history'.
Welcoming the 'great solidarity' from Britain's allies, Mrs May said the action proved the international community would no longer 'tolerate' Russian interference.
She said: 'Together we have sent a message that we will not tolerate Russia's continued attempts to flout international law and undermine our values.'
She added: 'President Putin's regime is carrying out acts of aggression against our shared values and interests within our continent and beyond.
'As a sovereign European democracy, the United Kingdom will stand shoulder to shoulder with the EU and with Nato to face down these threats together.'
Announcing the coordinated action, Mr Tusk said: 'Last week the European council condemned in the strongest possible terms the recent attack on Salisbury.
'The European Council agreed with the UK government assessment that its highly likely the Russian federation is responsible and there is no plausible alternative explanation.
'And we decided to recall the EU ambassador to Russia for consultation. As a direct follow up to last week's European council decision to react to Russia within a commons framework already today 14 member states have decided to expel Russian diplomats.
'Additional measures including further expulsions within the EU framework, are not to be excluded in the coming days and weeks. 'We remain critical of the actions of the Russian government.'
source
No comments:
Post a Comment