President Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke Wednesday for the first time since the U.S. and more than a dozen European nations expelled Russian diplomats from their capitals in response to Russia’s suspected role in poisoning an ex-spy in the U.K.
Trump and May “agreed on the importance of dismantling Russia’s spy networks in the United Kingdom and the United States to curtail Russian clandestine activities and prevent future chemical weapons attacks on either country’s soil,” the White House said in a summary of the phone call.
The White House announced on Monday that administration officials had demanded 60 Russian diplomats, all of whom were suspected intelligence officers, leave the U.S. within a week. Administration officials also ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle due to its proximity to a military base.
Trump’s moves against Russia drew praise from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, even from some who have long criticized the president for what they perceive to be his leniency with Moscow.
Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., slammed Trump’s decision as a “very bad step” that will sever “what little still remains” of Washington’s relationship with Moscow.
Trump last spoke to his British counterpart on March 13, when he first affirmed the need to impose consequences on Russia for its actions.
