Diplomats must leave the country – Russia threatens counter-measures

Moscow / Washington. Russia has been threatening the United States with retaliatory action if some of its diplomatic staff leave the country. “We do not want that, but we can not help to respond in the same way,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Rybkov on Monday at Interfox in Moscow.

Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, had earlier said in an interview that the 27 Russian ambassadors and their families would have to leave the United States on January 30. According to him, accreditations are withdrawn by spouses from spouses and their children are not issued visas. According to Russian reports, a total of 200 Russian embassy staff worked in the United States at the end of October.

Antonov said a similar number of Russian ambassadors and their families should leave the country by June 30 next year. “We are struggling with a massive staff shortage.” Due to the high number of conflicts and sanctions, the relationship between Moscow and Washington is much more tense than it has been for decades.

It also has an impact at the diplomatic level: In April, the United States expelled ten Russian ambassadors in retaliation for alleged hacker attacks in Moscow and the United States. And imposed new restrictions. In retaliation, Russia expelled ten US diplomats and imposed sanctions on the United States. In addition, the government in Moscow barred high-ranking US government officials from entering.