Moscow: The staff of the US Embassy in Moscow living in Russia for over three years must leave the country by January 31, 2022, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday following the US move to order Russian diplomats out of the country.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Sunday that 27 Russian diplomats would leave the country on January 30. Later, the Department of State said that the order for diplomats to leave is not an expulsion, as Moscow can assign other diplomatic members instead of those departing ones.
“We regard the American demand precisely as expulsion and intend to react accordingly. By January 31, 2022, US embassy officials who have been in Moscow for over three years must leave Russia,” Zakharova said during a briefing.
If the US does not compromise on Russian diplomats, another group of US diplomats will leave Russia by July 1, she added.
