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A new Cold War, Russia to expel 60 US diplomats, shut US consulate

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday said that Moscow to expel 60 US diplomats and shut down its consulate in St. Petersburg in a tit-for-tat expulsion over the poisoning of ex-double agent Sergei Skripal.

Lavrov claimed that the US ambassador had been notified of “retaliatory measures”, saying that “they include the expulsion of the equivalent number of diplomats and our decision to withdraw permission for the functioning of the US consulate general in Saint Petersburg”.

Moscow’s decision comes after President Donald Trump on Monday issued an order for 60 Russian diplomats to leave the country as the US considers them as spies. The order was issued in response to the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy in the UK and closed Russia’s consulate in Seattle, revealed senior administration officials on Monday as European allies executed similar measures.

The expulsions are the most aggressive US move against Russia under Trump, who has sought a closer personal relationship with President Vladimir Putin while at the same time introducing new sanctions against people and entities with ties to the Kremlin.

The officials called the March 4 poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England an attack on America’s closest ally and a reckless attempt to murder a British citizen on British soil. They said there are more than 100 Russian intelligence agents undercover as diplomats in the US and described the number as unacceptable.

The 60 people expelled from the US include 48 attached to the Russian embassy and 12 at the country’s mission to the United Nations. They have seven days to leave the country, the officials said.

At least 14 European Union countries are preparing to take coordinated actions with the US in response to the UK attack, two people with knowledge of the decision said. The countries were expected to include Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the Czech Republic.

Germany has expelled four Russian diplomats, and other nations are following in rapid succession.

The UK already expelled 23 Russian diplomats in response to the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, which Prime Minister Theresa May’s government determined was perpetrated by Russia.

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