Russia to react immediately if U.S. expels Russian diplomats – Senior Lawmaker

Moscow will immediately take retaliatory measures if Washington decides to expel
Russian diplomats, Deputy Chairman of Russian Federation Council’s Committee on International Affairs, Vladimir Dzhabarov, told Sputnik on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, the CNN broadcaster reported that U.S. National Security Council recommended to President Donald Trump to expel Russian diplomats over the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, in the UK allegedly orchestrated by Moscow.
Dzhabarov said: “If the United States decides to expel Russian diplomats, the retaliatory measures will be taken immediately.”
The lawmaker, however, noted that Trump was unlikely to follow such recommendations as there are a lot of problems in U.S.-Russian relations which have to be settled, especially taken into account the fact that UK Prime Minister, Theresa May’s accusations were unfounded.
NAN reports that the on Friday, the EU temporarily withdrew it’s ambassador to Moscow over the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
German diplomat Markus Ederer, who leads the bloc’s delegation to Russia, is being recalled “for consultations”.
The decision to recall EU Ambassador to Russia Markus Ederer is an extraordinary measure and the 28-nation bloc has never taken such a step before, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Friday.
On Thursday, the European Council sided with London in claiming that Russia was “highly likely” to be behind the attack on its former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
On March 4, former Russian intelligence officer, Skripal, who also worked for UK intelligence, and his daughter were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping center in Salisbury and are currently being treated for exposure to what the UK experts believe to be the A234 nerve agent.
The UK side claimed that this substance was related to the Novichok-class nerve agents developed in the Soviet Union.
May has accused Russia of orchestrating the attack and expelled 23 Russian diplomats as a punitive measure.
Russian has strongly rejected the accusations and offered assistance in the investigation.
However, Moscow’s request for samples of the chemical substance used to poison Skripal was denied.
Moscow also expelled UK diplomats and ordered the British Council to stop its activities in Russia in response to the UK move.