Russia expels 60 US diplomats, closes consulate

Russia expelled 60 US diplomats on Thursday and announced it would eject scores from other countries that have joined London and Washington in censuring Moscow over the poisoning of a spy.

The US ambassador was also ordered to shut the consulate in Saint Petersburg, in Russia's retaliation for the biggest expulsion of diplomats since the Cold War.

The response, which precisely mirrored steps taken by Western governments against Russian diplomats, appeared to show that Moscow was not seeking to escalate the standoff over the nerve agent poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov makes a statement on the decision to expel 60 US diplomats and close its consulate in Saint Petersburg, March 29, 2018. /VCG Photo

'No justification for Russian response'

Washington, however, indicated that it could retaliate for Russia's "regrettable, unwarranted action," raising the possibility that the crisis could intensify.

"It's clear from the list provided to us that the Russian Federation is not interested in a dialogue on issues that matter to our two countries," said US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. "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, the attack on a British citizen and his daughter."

Nauert said Washington reserves the right to take further actions. "We're reviewing our options," she added.

Security officers stand guard outside the US Consulate in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 31, 2017. /VCG Photo

The spokeswoman charged that the attack on the Skripals violated an international chemical weapons ban. She declined to discuss what additional measures the Trump administration could take.

Britain has blamed Russia for the poisoning, and has been backed up by dozens of Western countries which have ordered Russian diplomats to leave. The US charges that the 60 Russians that it targeted are intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover.

Moscow denies involvement in the attack on the Skripals.

'Symmetrical' retaliation by Russia

US Ambassador Jon Hunstman was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and told that 60 diplomats from US missions had a week to leave Russia, as Washington had expelled 60 Russians.

At a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Huntsman was also told that the US consulate in Saint Petersburg would be closed – a like-for-like retaliation for the US closure of Russia's consulate in the US city of Seattle.

"As for the other countries, everything will also be symmetrical in terms of the number of people from their diplomatic missions who will be leaving Russia, and for now that's pretty much it," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Former Russian military intelligence colonel Sergei Skripal attends a hearing at the Moscow District Military Court, August 9, 2006. /VCG Photo

That approach will mean that, among other countries affected, France, Germany and Poland would each have four of their diplomats in Moscow sent home. Ukraine would forfeit 13 diplomats, and Denmark, Albania and Spain would each have two of their embassy staff expelled.

Russia has already retaliated in kind after Britain initially expelled 23 diplomats.

Daughter better

Skripal, 66, a double agent who was swapped in a spy exchange deal in 2010 and went to live in England, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, 33, were found unconscious on a public bench in a shopping center in Salisbury on March 4.

Former Russian military intelligence officer Skripal remains in a critical condition but his daughter is getting better, the hospital where they are being treated said on Thursday.

British authorities say a Soviet-era nerve toxin called Novichok was used in an attempt to murder the pair.