The Australian Government has been advised overnight that the Russian government will expel two Australian diplomats, who are required to leave the country within 7 days.
This is a disappointing, although not unexpected, reaction by the Russian Government to the decision of the Australian Government to expel two Russian diplomats working as undeclared intelligence officers.
The Australian action was taken in response to the shocking deployment of a military grade nerve agent in an attempted assassination on UK soil on 4 March. Australia’s action was in concert with 28 other nations expelling a total of 153 Russian diplomats in an unprecedented demonstration of global solidarity with the United Kingdom.
The staff to be expelled from Australia’s embassy were fulfilling their diplomatic and consular functions in accordance with the Vienna Conventions on diplomatic and consular relations, and there is no justification for this action by Russia.
Our first priority is to look after our staff by assisting those who will be returning to Australia and we ask that their privacy be respected.
Together with many nations, including our closest allies, Australia stands with the United Kingdom as we condemn the outrageous use of a banned Russian nerve agent on British soil, in the first chemical weapons attack in Europe since World War II.
The Russian Government must explain how a military-grade nerve agent developed by Russia was used in the UK, endangering the lives of hundreds of people.
The Russian Government must also explain why its Novichok program has not been declared to the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, consistent with its legal obligations.