EU leaders back Britain in blaming Russia over spy poisoning

BRUSSELS (AP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May won the backing of 27 other European Union leaders Thursday in blaming Russia for the poisoning of a former spy on English soil - an attack the bloc called a threat to its collective security.

EU Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that the 28 leaders agree with Britain that it's "highly likely Russia is responsible" for the attack on Sergei Skripal.

In a strongly worded statement later, the EU Council of all the bloc's national leaders said that "there is no plausible alternative explanation."

Calling the attack a "grave challenge to our shared security," the EU states said they would "coordinate on the consequences to be drawn in the light of the answers provided by the Russian authorities."

The unanimity was a victory for May. She had been striving at a summit in Brussels to persuade her EU colleagues to unite in condemning Moscow over the attack on Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer convicted of spying for Britain, and his daughter, Yulia.

Russia strongly denies responsibility and has slammed Britain's investigation.

During a summit dinner, May laid out the reasons Britain is convinced Moscow was behind the attack, including the type of poison used - a Soviet-developed nerve agent known as Novichok - and intelligence that Russia has produced it within the last decade.

Britain argues the attack is part of a pattern of behavior by an increasingly assertive Russia whose muscle-flexing, cyber-meddling and law-breaking on foreign soil pose a threat to the international rule of law.

May said Thursday that "it is clear that the Russian threat doesn't respect borders." She said "the incident in Salisbury was part of a pattern of Russian aggression against Europe and its near neighbors, from the western Balkans to the Middle East."

EU foreign ministers already had expressed their "unqualified solidarity" with Britain. But European politicians and leaders varied in how far they were willing to go in blaming Russia President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave May strong backing, and President Dalia Grybauskaite of former Soviet state Lithuania said she was considering expelling Russian diplomats in the wake of the March 4 attack.

But Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was more cautious. He said "we have to express our solidarity to the U.K., to the British people, but at the same time we need to investigate."

Putin's office said Thursday that Tsipras had called Putin to congratulate him on his re-election and discuss issues, including the Salisbury poisoning.

Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter remain unconscious in critical but stable condition after the attack in the English city of Salisbury, which has sparked an east-west diplomatic crisis reminiscent of the Cold War.

Britain and Russia have expelled 23 of each other's diplomats in a feud that shows no sign of easing.

Russia's ambassador to the U.K., Alexander Yakovenko, accused the U.K. Thursday of having a "bad record of violating international law and misleading the international community."

"History shows that British statements must be verified," he told reporters in London, demanding "full transparency of the investigation and full cooperation with Russia" and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Britain says it is complying with the international chemical-weapons watchdog. Experts from the OPCW have come to Britain to take samples of the nerve agent and examine blood from the unconscious Skripals.

On Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said it was "emetic" - vomit-inducing - that Putin is rejoicing over hosting the World Cup soccer tournament this summer. Russia responded that Johnson was "poisoned with venom of malice and hate."

Johnson also said Russia's hosting of the tournament could be compared to the 1936 Olympics, which was used as a propaganda exercise by Nazi Germany. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called that comparison an "utterly disgusting statement that is unworthy of a foreign minister of any country."

A total of 48 people have been assessed by doctors over the Salisbury incident, including Detective Sgt. Nick Bailey, a police officer who became seriously ill after responding to the nerve agent attack.

Health officials said Thursday that Bailey had been released from a Salisbury hospital after about two weeks of treatment.

In a statement, he had been overwhelmed by the support for him during a "completely surreal" experience.

"I recognize that 'normal' life for me will probably never be the same," Bailey said.

Appealing for privacy for his family, Bailey said "I want people to focus on the investigation - not the police officer who was unfortunate enough to be caught up in it."

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Associated Press writer Jill Lawless reported this story in Brussels and AP writer Danica Kirka reported from London. AP writers Lorne Cook and Raf Casert in Brussels, Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow and Greg Katz in London contributed to this report.