The United Kingdom’s allies have backed the government’s claim that Moscow was responsible for the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, UK. The leaders of U.S, France and Germany came together to condemn the attack in a joint statement on Wednesday.

In the rare joint statement, President Donald Trump, President Emmanual Macron, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Theresa May said "there is no plausible alternative explanation" to Russian responsibility in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter on March 4 in England.

"We, the leaders of France, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, abhor the attack that took place against Sergei and Yulia Skripal" in Salisbury, said the statement issued by the British government. The four leaders also said that Russia's failure to respond to Britain's "legitimate request" for an explanation "further underlines its responsibility", describing the use of a chemical weapon as "an assault on UK sovereignty" and "a breach of international law".

The statement highlighted that this use of a military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia, constitutes the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War. The joint statement also noted the Salisbury attack came amid “a pattern of earlier irresponsible Russian behaviour”. The statement – described by London as the first time the leaders of the four nations had spoken together in such a way – marked a toughening of the rhetoric against Moscow.

This message was reinforced hours later as the U.S. government unilaterally increased sanctions over Russian interference in the 2016 elections, and accused Russia of a cyber-attack against its energy grid and other infrastructure. U.S. officials said malware had been found in the operating systems of several organisations and companies in the U.S. energy, nuclear, water and “critical manufacturing” sectors, with the attacks allegedly traced to Moscow.

French President Macron separately told reporters during a visit to central France that his country would take action over the “unacceptable attack”. “I will announce the measures that we are going to take in the coming days,” he said. The French president also said he would discuss the issue with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is due in Paris on Friday.

Britain has expelled 23 Russian diplomats and promised more measures against Russia. Theresa May has already announced that Prince William and his wife who were scheduled to visit Russia during the Football World Cup later this year, would not be going.

Russia, which denies involvement, has promised to take retaliatory measures.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 16, 2018 07:51 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).