1st LD Writethru: Irish gov't to hold cabinet meeting on expulsion issue of Russian diplomats: spokesman

DUBLIN, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Irish government will hold a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to decide whether or not it should follow other European Union (EU) member states to expel Russian diplomats in Ireland, said a spokesman of the country's foreign minister here on Monday.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney will receive a security assessment report about the Russian diplomats in the country this evening and will bring this to a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the spokesman told the local media RTE, adding that announcement will be made after the cabinet meeting.

The spokesman's remarks came shortly after European Council President Donald Tusk announced earlier on Monday afternoon that 14 EU members had decided to expel Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain.

The British government has accused Russia of involvement in the attack, which has been denied by the Russian authorities.

The decision to expel Russian diplomats by EU member states was taken in solidarity with Britain at a meeting of EU leaders last week, reported local media.

U.S. President Donald Trump has also announced the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats in the United States and the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle following the decision of the EU member states, said the report.

"Today's extraordinary international response by our allies stands in history as the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers ever and will help defend our shared security," said British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Twitter.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said after last week's meeting of EU leaders that Ireland will first carry out a security assessment on the Russian diplomats in Dublin and then decide what next move should be taken.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday that Russia "strongly protests" diplomats expulsion by the United States and 14 European countries over an ex-spy case, vowing to retaliate.

"We consider this step as unfriendly and not corresponding to the goal and wish to establish the causes and search for the perpetrators of the (ex-spy poisoning) incident on March 4," the ministry said in a statement.

It said the British authorities took a "prejudiced, biased and hypocritical stance." It denied Russia's involvement in the incident. Enditem