No justification for Russian move to expel diplomats – USThe Russian move is a tit-for-tat response to the wave of Western expulsions of Russian diplomats over the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in the UK. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference that Moscow will expel the same number of diplomats from each of those countries in retaliation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) US ambassador Jon Huntsman was summoned to the Foreign Ministry while Mr Lavrov was speaking, where he was handed notice that Russia is responding quid pro quo to the US decision to order 60 Russian diplomats out. Mr Lavrov also said Moscow will retaliate for the US decision to shut the Russian consulate in Seattle by closing the US consulate in St Petersburg. Mr Lavrov emphasised that the expulsions followed “brutal pressure” from the US and Britain, which forced their allies to “follow the anti-Russian course”.

Source: Irish Independent March 29, 2018 20:26 UTC