Georgia expels Russian diplomat over Skripal poisoning
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Georgia has expelled one of 10 Russian diplomats serving at the Interests Section at the Embassy of Switzerland in Tbilisi in a show of solidarity with the United Kingdom (UK) over a recent nerve agent poisoning on the territory of UK, referring to the case of Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
Georgia and Russia have no direct diplomatic ties since the Russia-Georgia 2008 war and Switzerland is the third country mediating diplomatic issues between the two countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns the use of chemical weapons on the territory of the United Kingdom that caused grave human suffering to three individuals and posed serious threat to the life and health of others. This represents a serious challenge to common security,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry stated.
We condemn the use of chemical weapons on UK's territory and in solidarity with the UKs position declare employee of the Russian Federation Interests Section at the Swiss Embassy in Tbilisi as a not acceptable person and request to leave #Georgiahttps://t.co/6vh7qP1BNY
— MFA of Georgia (@MFAgovge) March 29, 2018
The diplomat will have to leave within seven days.
SergeI Skripal and his daughter were found poisoned on March 4 in UK. Photo by BBC.
The decision came after NATO and more than 20 western countries expelled Russian diplomats and stood by the UK.
- Col Sergei Skripal,66, is a former Russian military intelligence agent who sold secrets to the UK secret intelligence. He was imprisoned in Russia but was later sent to UK as part of a spy swap in 2010.
- He was found slumped over on a shopping centre bench on March 4, alongside his unconscious 33-year-old daughter Yulia Skripal.
- British experts claim that a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union was used to poison them. They say extremely dangerous secret toxins known as Novicho were used against the Skripal.
- The two remain in hospital in critical condition.
- The UK says the attack was "very likely” to have been carried out by Russia and has prompted the biggest crisis in UK-Russia relations since the end of the Cold War.
- Russia denies responsibility for the attack.