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Russian FM proposes expelling 35 U.S. diplomats in retaliation

Xinhua, December 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday proposed expelling 35 U.S.diplomats and block the access of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to a vacation house and a warehouse in response to a similar move by Washington.

"We have proposed that the Russian President (Vladimir Putin) declare 31 employees of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and four diplomats from the U.S. Consulate General in St. Petersburg persona non grata," Lavrov said in a statement aired by Russia 24 TV.

It was also suggested that Americans be banned from using their dacha in Serebryano Bor and a warehouse in southern Moscow, he said.

On Thursday, the U.S. State Department ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats suspected of spying and closed two compounds belonging to the Russian Embassy in response to Russia's alleged interference in the U.S. presidential election and to "a pattern of harassment of our diplomats overseas."

Outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama also imposed sanctions on two major Russian intelligence services -- the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and the Federal Security Service, four individual officers of the GRU and three companies that allegedly provided material support for hacking operations aimed to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. Endi