Russia will expel at least 150 western diplomats and close the US consulate in St Petersburg in retaliation for similar actions taken this week by British allies angered at the alleged Kremlin role in the poisoning of an ex-spy on UK soil.
Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, announced the move on Thursday evening, saying he had summoned the US ambassador to detail the ejections.
“Literally at this moment, US ambassador Jon Huntsman is being summoned to our foreign ministry, where my deputy Sergei Ryabkov will explain to him the contents of these retaliatory measures with regard to the US,” Mr Lavrov said.
The action follows an unprecedented show of support by European and Nato allies for Britain, which has blamed the Kremlin for a nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
Washington indicated that it could retaliate against the Russian moves.
“We reserve the right to respond further. We are reviewing our options,” Heather Nauert, a US State Department spokeswoman, said on Thursday. “Russia should not be acting like a victim. The only victims in this situation are the two victims in a hospital in the UK.”
On Thursday the hospital treating the Skripals announced that the condition of Yulia, 33, had improved although her father still remained in a critical but stable condition. The pair were found slumped on a bench in the centre of the English city of Salisbury on March 4.
London has said there is a high degree of certainty that Moscow was to blame for the attack because it is the only actor with the requisite capability, motive and record of such assassinations.
Earlier on Thursday, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman called such allegations “a world-class fake” and accused the UK of engaging in “legal nihilism”.
In a broad show of solidarity with London, more than 20 EU and Nato member countries this week expelled up to 150 Russian diplomats who they said were undeclared spies, the largest such wave since Soviet times.
“Our retaliation measures will be reciprocal and more,” Mr Lavrov said on Thursday.
He added that 60 US diplomats had been declared persona non grata and would have to leave the country by April 5. The St Petersburg consulate would have to close within two days.
#WORLD WAR 3: Russia To Expel More Than 150 United States Diplomats.
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