Russia to expel British diplomats in poisoning standoff

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Russia will kick out British diplomats in a worsening standoff over a nerve agent attack, but still isn't saying when or how many.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks to Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov as they attend a security council meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow on March 15, 2018. Lavrov said Thursday that Moscow would "certainly" expel some British diplomats in a tit-for-tat response. In remarks carried by the RIA Novosti news agency, Lavrov said the move would come "soon." [Photo: AP]

Lavrov on Friday accused Britain of violating international law and criticized Britain's defense minister for what he called "uneducated" comments about Russia.

Britain says the Russian state is behind the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury. The United States, France and Germany also condemned Russia over the attack.

Russia denies being the source of the nerve agent used and has demanded Britain share samples collected by investigators.

Lavrov said Russia will "of course" expel British diplomats and that he hopes the Skripals recover soon so light can be shed on what happened.