Russia retaliates, expels 60 American diplomats after U.S. action

Updated at 2:15 p.m. ET

Days after President Trump ordered the expulsion of 60 Russian officials from the United States and the closure of the Russian Consulate in Seattle in response to the nerve agent attack of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in the U.K., Russia has responded in kind.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that Russia will expel 60 U.S. diplomats and also announced the closure of the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg.

Lavrov told TASS, the Russian news agency, that U.S. Ambassador Jon Hunstman had been summoned to the foreign ministry to be told of the decision.

Lavrov said U.S. representatives should be out of the consulate building no later than Saturday.

As for the 60 diplomats, TASS reports, 58 employees of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and two staff members of the Consulate General in the city of Yekaterinburg must leave the country by April 5.

It comes after Russian diplomats in more than 20 countries have been shown the door in recent days, including across much of Europe.

On Tuesday, NATO announced it was expelling seven diplomats from Russia’s mission to the alliance.

Russia’s retaliation was expected. “Rest assured, we will respond,” Lavrov said earlier in the week. “The reason is that no one would like to tolerate such obnoxiousness, and we won’t either.”

Lavrov told TASS on Tuesday that the U.S. has been leading a colossal blackmail campaign against Russia.

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