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Britain Urges Allies to Kick Out Russian Diplomats

U.K. sharing secret intelligence to unite allies against Putin.

The British government is sharing secret intelligence about the nerve-agent attack on Sergei Skripal with allies in an effort to persuade them to expel Russian diplomats. Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the U.K. is urging its allies to follow its example in kicking out diplomats after the attempted murder of the former Russian spy on British soil, which it blamed squarely on the Kremlin. On Thursday, Prime Minister Theresa May will tell European Union leaders that Vladimir Putin presents a threat to the whole of Europe and that they must unite to punish the Kremlin for the attack. Whether May succeeds in uniting the countries is being seen as a key test of her country's influence as it negotiates its exit from the European Union—so far, European leaders have been reluctant to follow her in directly blaming the Kremlin. Meanwhile, Scottish newspaper The Herald reported May is set to ban secret tax haven firms based in Scotland in a crackdown of Russian money laundering in Britain.