EU unites behind UK
Russia yesterday accused Britain of trying to force London's allies to take "confrontational steps" after EU members states decided to recall the bloc's envoy from Moscow and mulled further diplomatic action over a nerve attack row.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov slammed Britain for garnering EU support over the poisoning of a former double agent, suggesting that London's focus was now on making "the crisis with Russia as deep as possible".
At a summit in Brussels, EU leaders united behind British Prime Minister Theresa May in blaming Russia for the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England, and agreed to recall their ambassador to Moscow for consultations.
EU states are now considering whether to follow Britain's lead in expelling Russian diplomats and even take other steps, with Lithuania and France among those indicating willingness to take action.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia did not know what "precise information the British side used when it discussed the topic of the Skripals with its colleagues".
Russia's top diplomat Lavrov for his part slammed Britain, saying its top officials "are feverishly trying to force allies to take confrontational steps".
"We still do not see any facts," state news agency RIA Novosti quoted him as saying on a visit to Hanoi.
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