Russia To Expel 60 US Diplomats, Close US Consulate In St. Petersburg

This is why it"s called tit-for-tat.

The Kremlin had vowed to retaliate against the "provocative gesture", denying it had any role in the attack; and now it has.

Just days after Trump announced he - together with much of the Western world - would expel 60 Russian diplomats from the US, and close the Russian consulate in Seattle, moments ago the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry.

Huntsman was given notice that Russia is responding quid pro quo to the U.S. decision to order 60 Russian diplomats out.

Lavrov said Moscow will also retaliate to the U.S. decision to shut the Russian consulate in Seattle by closing the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg.

Earlier this week, Haaretz reports that the Russian Embassy in the United States tweeted a poll quickly after the U.S. announcement asking which U.S. consulate they should close in retaliation. Forty-seven percent of the responders said the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg should be closed.

However, that is just the response to Washington. In total, dozens more Russian diplomats were expelled from numerous other nations:

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And Lavrov said the same approach will be applied to other nations that expelled Russian diplomats this week.