US President Donald Trump on Monday ordered the expulsion of 60 Russians from the United States and closed the Russian consulate in Seattle over a nerve agent attack earlier this month in Britain, senior US officials said.
The order includes 12 Russian intelligence officers from Russia's mission to the United Nations headquarters in New York and reflects concerns that Russian intelligence activities have been increasingly aggressive, senior US administration officials told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Moscow said it will expel at least 60 staff from US diplomatic missions in Russia in response to Washington's decision to expel Russian diplomats, Interfax news agency quoted a member of the upper house of the Russian parliament as saying.
The agency did not say on what the parliamentarian, Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy chairman of the international affairs committee in the upper house, based his assertion.
Government officials have yet to comment.Source: Channel NewsAsia