In response to the decision of the foreign diplomats of the United States (US) and European Union (EU) countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated they would close the US Consulate in St. Petersburg and expel the same number of Western diplomats in exchange for Russian diplomats, which the US has deported.

Russia will expel a total of 60 US diplomats, 58 of them from Moscow and 2 from Yekaterinburg. Describing the extra-judicial decision, Lavrov stated that the US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman was informed of "retaliatory steps".

The diplomats were given a period until April 5 to leave the country. After Russian agent Sergey Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in England on March 4, more than 25 countries, including Britain and the United States, had decided to expel some 150 Russian diplomats.

ILKHA