The White House vowed on Thursday to “deal with” the Moscow’s decision to expel dozens of American diplomats, declaring the
The White House vowed on Thursday to “deal with” the Moscow’s decision to expel dozens of American diplomats, declaring the move a “further deterioration” in relations between the two countries.
“The expulsion of undeclared Russian intelligence officers by the United States and more than two dozen partner nations and NATO allies earlier this week was an appropriate response to the Russian attack on the soil of the United Kingdom,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.
“Russia’s response was not unanticipated, and the United States will deal with it.”
The comments were the latest from the Trump administration warning of a response to Russia’s expulsion of 60 U. S. diplomats. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said earlier Thursday that Washington would “reserve the right to respond” to the move.
Exactly what action the U. S. could take to push back on the latest move from Moscow is unclear. Still, the warnings underscore the deepening tensions between the West and Russia, which has been blamed for the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter with a military-grade nerve agent on British soil earlier this month.
President Trump announced on Monday that the U. S. would kick out 60 Russian officials believed to be intelligence agents and shutter the Russian consulate in Seattle in retaliation for the poisonings.
In doing so, he joined two dozen other countries that also expelled Russian diplomats.
The Russian government has denied any role in the poisonings in the U. K., and has accused the U. S. of running a “colossal blackmail” campaign against Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced a response to the expulsions of Russian officials on Thursday, saying that 60 American diplomats would be booted out of Russia and that the U. S. consulate in St. Petersburg would be closed.
Other countries that expelled Russian diplomats, he said, would face similar measures from Moscow.
The diplomatic tit for tat put on display the rising tensions between Russia and the West at a time when many officials in Europe and the U. S. are under pressure to combat Moscow’s efforts to meddle in foreign elections.
