New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern says ‘We can’t find Russian spies to expel’
Written by News on 27/03/2018
New Zealand has said it wants to join the chorus of voices against Vladimir Putin by removing Russian spies – but it can’t find any to kick out.
As Russian officials prepare to be escorted to airports around the world in protest at the alleged Kremlin-backed nerve agent attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal, the antipodean nation is struggling to find any suitable to expel.
“We have done a check in New Zealand. We don’t have Russian undeclared intelligence officers here. If we did, we would expel them,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told state radio.
:: Russian expulsions: The countries kicking out diplomats
“When there’s a range of international interests… does it surprise me New Zealand is not top of their list? No, actually.”
Ardern said New Zealand “will keep under review what further actions it can take to support the international community over the Salisbury attack”.
New Zealand is a member of the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing network, which also includes the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia.
Britain has blamed the nerve agent attack directly on Moscow and has been urging its allies to take retaliatory action.
On Tuesday, Canada, Australia and the US joined the UK and several European Union countries in expelling scores of Russian diplomats.
:: Nerve agent attack: Dozens of Russian diplomats expelled across globe
Australia said it will expel two Russians; Canada, two; while the United States said on Monday it would expel 60.
More than 130 Russians are due to be removed worldwide, the biggest Western expulsion of diplomats since the height of the Cold War.
Twenty-three of them have already been expelled from the UK.
Russia has denied it was behind the suspected assassination attempt, which left Skripal and his daughter gravely ill in what is thought to be the first nerve agent attack in Europe since World War II.
Theresa May said on Monday that Sergei and Yulia Skripal remain critically ill in hospital due to what she called a “barbaric” act, and said doctors have indicated their condition is “unlikely to change in the near future, and they may never recover fully.”
(c) Sky News 2018: New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern says ‘We can’t find Russian spies to expel’
