The Russian Foreign Ministry demanded that the United Kingdom, in a 30-day period, reduce the staff of the embassy and consulates in the Russian Federation to the number of Russian diplomats in Britain. This is stated on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia on Friday, March 30.

It is also noted that the Ambassador of Great Britain, Laurie Bristow, was declared a protest "in connection with the provocative and unjustified actions of the British side, which inspired the unfounded expulsion of Russian diplomats from a number of states". The Englishman was informed that "as a retaliatory measure, the British side within a month should, by appropriate reductions of its personnel, bring the total number of employees of the British Embassy in Moscow and the British consulates in Russia in line with the number of Russian diplomats and administrative and technical workers who are in long-term business trips in the UK, "the Foreign Ministry said.. Earlier on Friday, ambassadors of several countries were summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry to present a protest note in connection with their "unfriendly actions towards Russia" committed in solidarity with London on the case of the poisoning in Salisbury on March 4 of the former intelligence officer of the GRU Sergey Skripal and his daughter Julia.

The British Foreign Office has already expressed regret in connection with today's measures taken by Moscow. At the same time, the British side noted that they were expected in London. Nevertheless, the British continue to persist in their claims to the "guilt" of precisely Russia in the poisoning of the Fiddles, since they "have no other alternative explanation".

"This (measures by the Russian Federation) does not change the fact: there was an attempt on the murder of two people on British territory, which has no other explanations, except that the Russian state is guilty of it.

Russia blatantly violates international law and the convention on chemical weapons, and the actions of countries around the world have demonstrated the depth of concern of the international community, "the interlocutor of the RIA Novosti agency stressed,.