Russia has announced the expulsion of more than 150 diplomats, including 60 Americans, in a tit-for-tat response to the West's move over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in England.
Ro Aram reports.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that Russia is expelling 60 U.S. diplomats and officials in retaliation for identical U.S. measures announced earlier this week.
They have one week to leave and the U.S. consulate in St Petersburg will also be shut in retaliation for the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle.
"U.S. ambassador Mr. (Jon) Huntsman has been invited to our ministry, where my deputy Mr. (Sergei) Ryabkov briefs him on our response to the US. These measures include the expulsion of the same number of diplomats. And this includes our decision to withdraw the licence for the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg"
Lavrov has blamed Washington for leading the mass expulsion of Russian diplomats in the West, and said Moscow will enforce similar measures on countries that joined it.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the Russian move was unjustified.
"I want to remind you that there is no justification for the Russian response. Our actions were motivated purely by the attack on the United Kingdom….. So we are reading this. We are reviewing it and we'll respond accordingly."
More than two dozen nations have joined the UK in pointing the finger at Moscow for the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury earlier this month.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied involvement and Lavrov again described the actions against his country as provocative.
He added Russia is also seeking a meeting with the leaders of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to discuss the case.
Meanwhile, doctors treating Sergei Skripal's daughter Yulia say she is recovering quickly.
She is known to be conscious and speaking, but her father remains in critical condition.
British police believe the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent had been left on the front door of Mr. Skripal's home in Salisbury.
Ro Aram, Arirang News.
