Russia retaliated against the expulsion of 10 U.S. diplomats by classifying 10 employees of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow as personae non gratae and giving them until the end of May 21 to leave the country.
Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported that the Foreign Ministry said, “Bart Gorman, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in the Russian Federation, received a note when he was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on April 21 that 10 people at the U.S. Embassy in Russia are personae non gratae.”
The statement mentioned, “The United States has taken hostile action against several employees of the Russian Embassy in Beijing and the Consulate General in New York by baselessly declaring them persona non grata, and this measure is a return of the favor.”
The U.S. last week announced sanctions against 32 Russian entities and individuals, expelled 10 Russian diplomats and banned U.S. financial institutions from buying Russian Treasury bonds starting June 14, 2021, in retaliation for Russian election meddling and cyberattacks. Russia has called the allegations unfounded.
On April 16, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would take a series of retaliatory measures in the near future for the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats from the United States.
Russia has recently exchanged diplomats with Ukraine and the Czech Republic over the deployment of heavy troops on the Ukrainian border over territorial issues and suspected involvement in the 2014 bombing of an arms depot in eastern Czechoslovakia, while Poland has voiced support for U.S. sanctions against Russia and expelled three Russian officials.
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