Russia to eject US diplomats in response to sanctions

Television crews assemble outside the Russian embassy on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington

Russia on Friday announced plans to expel 35 US diplomats and ban US diplomatic staff from using a dacha and a warehouse in Moscow in retaliation to Washington’s sanctions, Russian news agencies reported.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by the agencies as saying he had proposed the measures to President Vladimir Putin.

President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian suspected spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over their involvement in hacking US political groups in the 2016 presidential election.

Lavrov said Russia would not leave the sanctions unanswered and said that allegations that Russia interfered in US elections were baseless.