MOSCOW — The Russian government will expel 10 American diplomats and threatened to crack down on U.S.-funded nongovernmental organizations in retaliation for sanctions announced this week by the Biden administration, Russia’s foreign minister said Friday. The foreign ministry also offered what it called a suggestion that the American ambassador temporarily return to Washington and it banned entry into Russia by eight current and former United States officials, Sergey V. Lavrov, the foreign minister, said. Those relations have frayed in good part over Russian cyberattacks and interference in American elections. President Biden had indicated that the new American sanctions would signal a harder line toward Moscow, though he left a door open for dialogue, after years of deferential treatment under the Trump administration. Mr. Lavrov called the sanctions an “absolutely unfriendly and unprovoked action.”

Source: New York Times April 16, 2021 17:07 UTC