Russia expels 60 U.S. diplomats, shuts down St. Petersburg consulate

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on March 29
that it will expel the same number of American diplomats as the 60 Russian
diplomats expelled by the U.S. this week. In response to the shutting of the
Russian consulate in Seattle, the ministry also announced the shutting of the
U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg. “Russia wants to not only react to the
measures by the U.S. and Great Britain, but wants to establish the truth in the
Skripal affair,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as reported by the
TASS news agency. Recall, 28 Western countries expelled more than 140 Russian
diplomats this week in response to the Russian government’s alleged poisoning
of former spy Sergei Skripal in England early this month.

Zenon Zawada: The worsening tensions between Russia and the West may lead to
intensified Russian aggression in Ukraine and higher prospects for expanded
warfare. They also harm the chances for an agreement on a UN peacekeeping
mission in Donbas, which we viewed as unlikely to occur even before this latest
flare up.