Russia reciprocates expulsions of diplomats amid deepening row

Описание: (30 Mar 2018) Russia's foreign ministry said it had informed ambassadors of most of the countries, which ordered the expulsion of Russian diplomats, that an equal number of their diplomats have been declared persona non grata.
A ministry statement on Friday said the ambassadors were from 23 of the countries that are expelling Russians in connection with the poisoning in Britain of a former Russian spy and his daughter.
Earlier on Friday, the foreign ministry ordered Britain to reduce the number of its diplomats in Moscow to the level that Russia has in London.
The ministry said it summoned the British ambassador to hand him a protest over the "provocative and unsubstantiated actions by Britain, which instigated the expulsion of Russian diplomats from various nations for no reason."
As British Ambassador to Russia, Laurie Bristow left the foreign ministry, he said UK officials would study what he had been told and "make our decisions accordingly."
German Ambassador to Russia, Rudiger von Fritsch, as he left the ministry, said his country remained "prepared and open for dialogue."
The countries informed on Friday of expulsions were Australia, Albania, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Finland, France, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Estonia.
The statement said Russia would consider mirror expulsions of diplomats from Belgium, Hungary, Georgia and Montenegro.
The statement did not mention NATO, which is expelling seven Russians.
On Thursday, Russia announced it was expelling 60 US diplomats and closing the consulate in St. Petersburg in retaliation for Washington's moves.
Analyst Dmitri Trenin, head of the Carnegie Moscow think tank and research centre, said the US had already said they will "retaliate after Russia's retaliation" and that he would expect "the continuation of that."

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