Russia orders longtime U.S. embassy staff to leave country by January 31

US diplomats who have worked in Moscow for more than three years must leave the country by January 31, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

This step is the next step in an ongoing diplomatic feud between Russia and the United States, a feud sparked by Washington, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press conference in Moscow.

For some time now, the United States has created difficulties for Russian diplomats assigned to the United States by denying them visas and restricting their movement within the United States, she said.

Russia sees the deportation as a deal for the United States, forcing 27 Russian diplomatic staff to leave the country by the end of January, she said.

“We view the US request as nothing more than an expulsion and intend to respond accordingly. By January 31, 2022, employees of the US Embassy in Moscow who have been on mission for more than three years have to leave Russia, ”she said.

Moscow has long delayed the move in the hope that Washington will reverse its decision, she added.

“I stress that this choice is not ours. The American partners have imposed this game on us,” she declared.

“We have persistently tried to reason with them for a long time and redirect them to a constructive solution to the problem, but they made their choice.”

Russia called the US actions an “undisguised intrusion on the sovereign right of a state which sends its representatives, diplomats and determines the conditions of its stay in the host country itself … in accordance with the laws and rules. written by the host party, ”she said. stress.

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said last week that 27 Russian diplomats would be forced to leave the United States by January 30 due to visa issues with their families, and another 30 d ‘by the end of next June.