Russia is to expel 23 British diplomats, as the international row over the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia remain in a critical but stable condition, almost two weeks after the attack.
Police officers guard a cordon around a police tent covering the the spot where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found critically ill. Picture by: Matt Dunham/AP/Press Association Images
The UK's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson claims it is "overwhelmingly likely" that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off on the attack - but Moscow has denied any responsibility.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described Mr Johnson's claims as "shocking and unforgivable".
#OPCW, Alexander Shulgin: My guess is that our #British partners are afraid that, should our experts examine those samples, they will discover some catch in this whole case. And our British partners have absolutely no interest in that.https://t.co/kbasQz8Ngy #Russia #UK #Skripal pic.twitter.com/9mxWnMMLoh
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) March 17, 2018
Earlier this week, the UK expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the alleged Russian responsibility, and the Russian Foreign Ministry has now responded.
Officials say the diplomats must leave Russia within one week, while the country has also withdrawn permission for Britain to open a general consulate in St Petersburg.
British ambassador to Russia, Laurie Bristow, was summoned to the ministry earlier.
Leaving the meeting, he said: "This crisis has arisen as a result of an appalling attack in the UK, the attempted murder of two people using a chemical weapon developed in Russia and not declared by Russia to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) as Russia is obliged to do under the Chemical Weapons Act."
It comes a day before Russian elections are due to take place, with Vladimir Putin widely expected to win a fourth term in office.
