US expels 2 Russian diplomats in retaliatory motion towards Moscow

The Biden administration on Friday ordered two Russian diplomats expelled from the United States in retaliation for the expulsion of two US diplomats from Moscow final month.

The State Department stated it had taken the motion in response to Russia declaring the 2 American diplomats persona non grata due to contacts with a Russian nationwide who had as soon as labored for the now-closed US consulate in Russia’s far-eastern metropolis of Vladivostok and was arrested this 12 months.

“The department will not tolerate the Russian government’s pattern of harassment of our diplomats,” spokesman Matthew Miller stated in an announcement. “Unacceptable actions against our embassy personnel in Moscow will have consequences.”

The expulsions come at a time of animosity between Washington and Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine and as diplomatic relations have plummeted to their worst degree because the Cold War.

On September 14, Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the primary secretary on the US Embassy in Russia, Jeffrey Sillin, and the second secretary, David Bernstein, of “illegal activity” and ordered them to depart the nation inside seven days.

The ministry stated they’d “kept in touch” with the previous consulate worker, Robert Shonov, who was accused of accumulating info for US diplomats about Russia’s navy motion in Ukraine and associated points.

Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, reported the arrest of Shonov in August. The FSB stated he had gathered “information about the special military operation, mobilisation processes in Russian regions, problems and the assessment of their influence on protest activities of the population in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.”

The US categorically rejected the claims.

Published On:

Oct 7, 2023