Britain is waiting for retaliatory measures after the decision of the British Prime Minister Theresa May on the expulsion of Russian diplomats. This was stated in the Russian Foreign Ministry. In the diplomatic mission, the actions of Britain were called unworthy and accused opponents of pursuing political goals, which led to a critical deterioration in relations between countries. The ministry noted that the British side ignored international standards when investigating the poisoning of former GRU officer Sergey Skripal and instead started a frank confrontation with Russia. "Obviously, by going to unilateral and non-transparent methods of investigating this incident, the British authorities once again tried to unleash an indiscriminate anti-Russian campaign. Of course, our response will not be long in coming, "the statement said in the Foreign Ministry's telegram channel. Meanwhile, London gave Moscow a list of diplomats who became persona non grata. Earlier it was reported that 23 Russian diplomats will return home from Foggy Albion. As official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said, the list included not only diplomats, but also military attaches. "The list through diplomatic channels was transferred to the Russian side, we have it, they must leave the territory of Great Britain within seven days," RIA Novosti quotes Zakharov as saying.. In addition to the expulsion of diplomats, the UK included a number of other measures in the sanction package. So, the country will partially boycott the 2018 World Cup in Russia - members of the royal family will not go to the competitions. Also, the British authorities will freeze all suspicious assets and complicate the procedure for obtaining visas.

Despite the abundance of mutual sharp remarks by Russia and Britain, the conflict between them is unlikely to result in a full-scale diplomatic war, believes the leading expert of the Center for Political Technologies Alexei Makarkin. He compared the case of Skripal with the espionage scandal of 1971. when the number of Russian diplomats sent home was much larger. This time the scale of the consequences of the confrontation is much less serious, the expert said in an interview with "MK".