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US Says Russia to Expel 50 American Diplomats in Spy Row
US officials said Friday that Russia had ordered 50 American diplomats out of the country in full retaliation for Washington's expulsion of 50 Russians a day earlier.
They said the Russian order matched the US expulsions person for person, although Moscow's public announcement earlier Friday said that only four Americans had been declared "persona non grata" and told to leave the country immediately.
The Russian announcement said Moscow would be taking further retaliatory measures but did not say what they were.
However, the US officials said the Russians had demanded that an additional 46 American diplomats leave by July 1 mirroring in full Washington's earlier order which expelled four Russians, giving them 10 days to leave, and told 46 others, giving them a July 1 deadline to depart.
"Russia informed us today that four American diplomats are being declared persona non grata," said deputy State Department spokesman Philip Reeker.
"An additional number will be asked to leave by this summer," Reeker said, declining to comment further.
Senior department officials said they did not want to publicly confirm that 46 other Americans would be forced to leave Russia by July 1 because Moscow had not yet provided them with a list of their names.
The numbers of people involved in the tit-for-tat expulsions have confused many because Washington and Moscow have said publicly that they have expelled only four diplomats each.
As did Moscow's, Washington's formal announcement of the expulsions contained no reference to 46 other diplomats, however US State Department officials, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, revealed that the others were also being told to leave.
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