Russia says it 'doesn't understand' EU decision to withdraw ambassador from Moscow in solidarity with UK

The European Union has recalled its ambassador from Moscow after the bloc’s 27 other leaders backed Theresa May’s claim that the Kremlin was “highly likely” to be responsible for this month’s nerve agent attack in Salisbury.

In a joint statement after midnight Brussels time the EU leaders said there was “no plausible alternative explanation” for the use of novichok in Salisbury other than its deployment by the Russian government.

Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, said on Friday that Russia “doesn’t understand” the EU’s decision, and said Moscow would need to study the exact measures being taken by the bloc before it could respond.

Ms May urged leaders at a dinner of the European Council in Brussels to go further than their foreign ministers had on Monday, when the bloc said that they took the assessment of Russian responsibility “extremely seriously”.

The EU said its ambassador had been recalled “for consultations” following the incident. It is also understood that Ireland, France, Estonia, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania are considering the expulsion of Russian diplomats, following the UK’s decision to expel 23 of them, including alleged undeclared intelligence officers.

The Kremlin said the UK was forcing its allies to take “confrontational steps” over the incident. Russia denies any involvement in the poisoning.

Mr Peskov said: “We don’t know what info the UK had when it discussed with EU colleagues. We don’t understand it.

“Russia has not had the opportunity to receive a diagnosis [on the Skripals]. Regarding the EU decision, we are unhappy with ‘highly likely’ formulations. Russia categorically has nothing to do with the Skripal [poisoning].”

Speaking at the summit on Friday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: “What we’ll now consider in the coming days is whether we want to take individual action relating to Russian diplomats in Ireland, bearing in mind what the UK did was to expel 23 diplomats, who they did not believe were diplomats, they were agents.

“We would have to do a security assessment before we did that. We’re not just going to randomly expel people who are genuine diplomats.”

The Prime Minister, who was due to leave for London after the Thursday dinner, is now also attending part of the Friday portion of the summit, after a discussion on trade with the US was delayed to wait a response from the Trump administration.

Speaking on the doorstep of the summit in the small hours of the morning after the dinner, Ms May said: “We’ve had a very full discussion on Russia at this EU Council and I welcome the fact that the EU Council has agreed with the UK Government’s assessment that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attempted murder that took place on the streets of Salisbury, and that there is no plausible alternative explanation.

“Russia, and the threat that Russia poses, respects no borders and that is a threat to our values and it is right that here in the EU Council we are standing together to uphold those values. I’m going to be back here tomorrow morning at the EU Council when we have a very important discussion on trade.”

Former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, remain in a critical condition following the 4 March attack in Salisbury.

The joint statement by the European Council says: “The European Council condemns in the strongest possible terms the recent attack in Salisbury, expresses its deepest sympathies to all whose lives have been threatened and lends its support to the ongoing investigation.

“It agrees with the UK Government’s assessment that it is highly likely that the Russian Federation is responsible and that there is no plausible alternative explanation. We stand in unqualified solidarity with the United Kingdom in the face of this grave challenge to our shared security.

“The use of chemical weapons, including the use of any toxic chemicals as weapons under any circumstances, is completely unacceptable, must be systematically and rigorously condemned and constitutes a security threat to us all.

“Member states will coordinate on the consequences to be drawn in the light of the answers provided by the Russian authorities. The European Union will remain closely focused on this issue and its implications.”