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| Russia to expel 150 diplomats and close US consulate in St Petersburg over response to Salisbury spy poisoning | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Russia will expel 150 diplomats and close the US Consulate in St Petersburg in retaliation to the international response to the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain. | Russia will expel 150 diplomats and close the US Consulate in St Petersburg in retaliation to the international response to the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain. |
| Two dozen countries, including the US, many EU nations and Nato, have ordered more than 150 Russian diplomats out this week in a show of solidarity with Britain over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. | Two dozen countries, including the US, many EU nations and Nato, have ordered more than 150 Russian diplomats out this week in a show of solidarity with Britain over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. |
| Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that US Ambassador Jon Huntsman was summoned to the Foreign Ministry where he was given notice that Russia is responding quid pro quo to the US decision to order 60 Russian diplomats out. Mr Lavrov said Moscow will also retaliate to the decision by Washington to shut the Russian consulate in Seattle by closing the US consulate in St. Petersburg. | Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that US Ambassador Jon Huntsman was summoned to the Foreign Ministry where he was given notice that Russia is responding quid pro quo to the US decision to order 60 Russian diplomats out. Mr Lavrov said Moscow will also retaliate to the decision by Washington to shut the Russian consulate in Seattle by closing the US consulate in St. Petersburg. |
| According to the Interfax news agency, 58 of the officials are based in Russia, with another two general consulate officials in the eastern city of Yekateringburg. They have been declared persona non grata and have been told to leave Russia by 5 April. | |
| The US Consulate in St Petersburg has two days to suspend operations, according to Russian media. | |
| Mr Lavrov said Russia would take the same approach to other nations that expelled Russian diplomats this week. | |
| "The measures would be reciprocal ... They include expulsion of the equivalent number of diplomats and they include our decision to withdraw our agreement to allow the United States' general consulate to operate in St. Petersburg," Mr Lavrov told a briefing. | "The measures would be reciprocal ... They include expulsion of the equivalent number of diplomats and they include our decision to withdraw our agreement to allow the United States' general consulate to operate in St. Petersburg," Mr Lavrov told a briefing. |
| The development will do little to quell the fears raised by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the world is approaching a situation “similar” to the Cold War as tensions rise between the United States and Russia. | |
| Mr Guterres said the current situation, driven in part by the poisoning but also tensions over Thursday it's different in two important ways: There are more players in conflicts than during the two-superpower era and fewer communication channels set up to keep problems from escalating. He told reporters Thursday he is “very concerned.” | |
| More follows… | More follows… |