NATO, too, expels Russian diplomats

NATO has withdrawn accreditations for seven Russian diplomats and three more will be suspended, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said.

"This decision represents the price and the consequences of Russia's behavior," Stoltenberg said.

Before NATO, a total of 24 countries decided to expel Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain, following the poisoning of a former Russian spy in that country.

Among the countries of the European Union, these are Germany, France, Poland (four), Lithuania, the Czech Republic (three), Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark (two), Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Croatia, Romania, Hungary and Sweden (one each).

This has been done so far by several other European countries that are not members of the EU: Ukraine (13), Norway (one), Albania (two) and Macedonia (one).

As for non-European countries, Russian diplomats will also be expelled from the US (60), Canada (four) and Australia (two).

Russia, which denies involvement in the Skripal attack case, said it would be guided by the principle of reciprocity as it responds to these expulsions.