Russia Moves to Expel 35 US Diplomats: Lavrov
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russia's foreign ministry has requested President Vladimir Putin turf out 35 American diplomats from the country in a tit-for-tat response to a similar move by Washington over hacking allegations, Moscow's top diplomat said Friday.
"Russia's foreign ministry... has requested that the Russian president approve declaring as personae non gratae 31 employees of the US embassy in Moscow and four diplomats from the US consulate in Saint Petersburg," Lavrov said in televised comments, AFP reproved.
The ministry is also seeking to ban diplomats from using a holiday home located in western Moscow and a warehouse in the north of the city, Lavrov said, after President Barack Obama said the US would close two Russian compounds.
Lavrov said the two Russian country houses in New York and Maryland were used for children's holidays and ridiculed the notion they were "nests of spies."
"We of course cannot leave these stunts unanswered. Reciprocity is the law in diplomacy and international relations," he said, hoping that Putin approves the requests "promptly."
US President Barack Obama had on Thursday ordered a series of new sanctions against Russia and ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, accusing them of being suspected spies.
The US president had also imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over allegations that they interfered in the 2016 presidential election in the US through cyberattacks.