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The Trump administration on Monday ordered the expulsion of 60 Russian intelligence and diplomatic officers in New York and Washington and the closure of the Russian Consulate in Seattle, joining European allies in retaliation for the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain
Link Source 1: (Washington Post) https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...db33a5eef83_story.html?utm_term=.b61a49207ff5
Link Source 2: (Fox News) http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...n-diplomats-closure-consulate-in-seattle.html
Link Source 3: (BBC New) http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43545565
Twelve Russian diplomats at the United Nations in New York and 48 at the Russian Embassy in Washington face expulsion by the U.S. government for what senior administration officials described as covert intelligence operations that undermine U.S. national security.
The U.S. government also ordered the Russian Consulate in Seattle closed by April 2. Senior administration officials said they believe it has served as a key outpost in Russia’s intelligence operations, in part because of its proximity to a U.S. submarine base as well as Boeing manufacturing facilities.
Monday’s actions were in response to the March 4 nerve-agent attack in Salisbury, England, which was blamed on Russia and critically injured a former spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia. The show of solidarity was especially notable because Britain’s plan to leave the European Union has strained relations with many of the country’s neighbors.
The U.S. move came in coordination with 14 European nations, which almost simultaneously announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats on Monday in a broad attempt to disrupt the Kremlin’s intelligence network across Europe.
“We remain critical of the actions of the Russian government,” European Council President Donald Tusk said as he announced the actions by 14 European Union countries to expel Russian diplomats. “Additional measures, including further expulsions within the common E.U. framework, are not to be excluded in the coming days and weeks.”
Tusk did not say which European Union countries were expelling Russians. Germany, France, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland all made individual announcements, and more were expected to follow on Monday.
Separately, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, whose country is not a member of the E.U., also said his country would kick out 13 Russian diplomats.
Taken together, the expulsions were an unusually wide-ranging expression of solidarity against Russia following the attack. The E.U. and the United States also coordinated economic sanctions against Russia after the Kremlin annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, but subsequent actions have been more piecemeal.
In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the attack was “the latest in [Russia’s] ongoing pattern of destabilizing activities around the world.”
“Today’s actions make the United States safer by reducing Russia’s ability to spy on Americans and to conduct covert operations that threaten America’s national security,” Sanders said. “With these steps, the United States and our allies and partners make clear to Russia that its actions have consequences.”
Link Source 1: (Washington Post) https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...db33a5eef83_story.html?utm_term=.b61a49207ff5
Link Source 2: (Fox News) http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...n-diplomats-closure-consulate-in-seattle.html
Link Source 3: (BBC New) http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43545565
Twelve Russian diplomats at the United Nations in New York and 48 at the Russian Embassy in Washington face expulsion by the U.S. government for what senior administration officials described as covert intelligence operations that undermine U.S. national security.
The U.S. government also ordered the Russian Consulate in Seattle closed by April 2. Senior administration officials said they believe it has served as a key outpost in Russia’s intelligence operations, in part because of its proximity to a U.S. submarine base as well as Boeing manufacturing facilities.
Monday’s actions were in response to the March 4 nerve-agent attack in Salisbury, England, which was blamed on Russia and critically injured a former spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia. The show of solidarity was especially notable because Britain’s plan to leave the European Union has strained relations with many of the country’s neighbors.
The U.S. move came in coordination with 14 European nations, which almost simultaneously announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats on Monday in a broad attempt to disrupt the Kremlin’s intelligence network across Europe.
“We remain critical of the actions of the Russian government,” European Council President Donald Tusk said as he announced the actions by 14 European Union countries to expel Russian diplomats. “Additional measures, including further expulsions within the common E.U. framework, are not to be excluded in the coming days and weeks.”
Tusk did not say which European Union countries were expelling Russians. Germany, France, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland all made individual announcements, and more were expected to follow on Monday.
Separately, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, whose country is not a member of the E.U., also said his country would kick out 13 Russian diplomats.
Taken together, the expulsions were an unusually wide-ranging expression of solidarity against Russia following the attack. The E.U. and the United States also coordinated economic sanctions against Russia after the Kremlin annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, but subsequent actions have been more piecemeal.
In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the attack was “the latest in [Russia’s] ongoing pattern of destabilizing activities around the world.”
“Today’s actions make the United States safer by reducing Russia’s ability to spy on Americans and to conduct covert operations that threaten America’s national security,” Sanders said. “With these steps, the United States and our allies and partners make clear to Russia that its actions have consequences.”
