Russia will expel 60 US diplomats and close the US Consulate in St. Petersburg, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday, in retaliation for a similar move by Washington.
The 60 diplomats -- 58 from the US mission in Moscow and two from Yekaterinburg -- were declared "persona non grata" for activities "incompatible with diplomatic status," the ministry said, ordering them to leave the country by April 5.
US Ambassador Jon Huntsman had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry to be told of the decision, Lavrov said.
In response, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that Moscow "should not be acting like a victim."
She rejected the Russian government's suggestion that it is taking reciprocal action: "We don't see this as a diplomatic tit for tat," Nauert told reporters shortly after Moscow announced the move.
