an hour agoRussia orders the removal of part of US Embassy staff
Periskopi(5 years ago)
(5 years ago)Russia said Wednesday it has ordered a portion of the US Embassy staff in Moscow to return home by 31 January. This revenge move comes after what Moscow named the US decision on limiting the mandate of Russian diplomats. Russia's decision came as part of the passage of the dispute. [...]
Russia's decision came as part of the transition of diplomatic dispute. Russian Ambassador to Washington said last week that 27 Russian diplomats and their families are being expelled from the United States and that they will leave this country on January 30th.
“We aim to respond simultaneously. The US Embassy workers, who have been in Moscow for more than three years, must leave Russia on 31 January”, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
News agency, RIA, quoted this official as saying the new US rules imply that Russian diplomats who have been forced to leave the United States also have no right to work as US diplomats for three years, Reuters reports, broadcast the Express newspaper.
The embassy is the only American mission to Russia after consulates in Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg closed, while diplomatic staff have been reduced from about 1,200 people in 2017 to 120, Washington says.
Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Ryabkov said it is not too late for Washington to interrupt Moscow's implementation of new expulsions, if he gives up plans to expel Russian diplomats himself.
