(CNN) – On Friday, Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, described his country’s expulsion of two diplomats as “cruel revenge.”
According to Russian news agency TASS, Antonov said Washington “has not given an explanation for its decision”, adding: “What is the logic that the host country’s authorities are not obliged to explain anything? This is really normal. Revenge.”
“When the U.S. State Department issued the evacuation order, it assured Moscow that it had no intention of publishing this story and sharing details with the media,” and the U.S. State Department “did not keep its promise,” he said. TASS reported.
The Russian ambassador accused staff at the US embassy in Moscow of “interfering in internal affairs and trying to undermine Russian national security,” and said such actions would “get an appropriate response” from Moscow, according to a Russian news agency.
On Friday, the US State Department announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the Russian embassy in Washington.
A State Department spokesman said in an emailed statement that the expulsions come in response to “what Russia did last month by expelling two diplomats from the US Embassy in Moscow.”
He added, “The Foreign Ministry responded by declaring two Russian diplomats working in the United States persona non grata.”
The spokesman continued: “The ministry will not tolerate the Russian government’s harassment of our ambassadors,” adding that “the ministry’s actions send a clear message that unacceptable actions against our embassy staff in Moscow will have consequences.”
In mid-September, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller warned that his country would respond to the “urgent” expulsion of two US diplomats from Russia.
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