President Trump spoke Tuesday to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel about their coordinated responses to Russia’s use of a chemical weapon in the U.K. this month against a former spy living on British soil.
The U.S. and more than a dozen allies announced Monday that they would expel from their countries Russian intelligence officers who were operating under the guise of diplomacy. The Trump administration also said it would demand Russia close its consulate in Seattle due to its proximity to an American submarine base.
Trump’s phone call with Macron marked the second time he had spoken with the French leader about the chemical weapon attack in less than a week. The president and Macron on Tuesday discussed their “solidarity” with the U.K. in the wake of the attack.
Russian officials have condemned efforts to remove their diplomats from Western nations in response to an attack in which they continue to deny involvement.
However, British and American officials concluded Moscow was behind the assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal, the former spy, because the nerve agent used on him and his daughter, Yulia, is manufactured only in Russia.
The French and German governments announced Monday they would each expel four Russian diplomats from their respective countries, joining a long list of nations that took action against Russia this week in response to the March 4 attack in Salisbury.
Trump and Merkel, with whom he has had a rocky relationship, agreed on Tuesday to continue the “cooperative relationship” between the U.S. and Germany, according to the White House.
“Both leaders praised the joint announcements from North Atlantic Treaty Organization Allies, European Union member states, and other partners to expel undeclared Russian intelligence officers in solidarity with the United Kingdom and in response to Russia’s reckless use of chemical weapons,” the White House said in a summary of the phone call between Trump and Merkel.
Trump also discussed North Korea, tariffs and Chinese trade practices during his conversation with Merkel, the White House noted.
