Torch_v2.0
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2017
- Messages
- 596
- Reaction score
- -3
- Country
- Location
Trump Expels 60 Russian Diplomats for U.K. Attack
By
Jennifer Epstein
and
Jennifer Jacobs
Updated on
President Trump reportely expelled 60 Russian diplomats in response to an attack on a U.K. spy.
President Donald Trump ordered 60 Russian diplomats the U.S. considers spies to leave the country in response to the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy in the U.K. and closed Russia’s consulate in Seattle, as European allies and Canada took similar measures.
The expulsions are the most aggressive U.S. move against Russia under Trump, who has sought a closer personal relationship with President Vladimir Putin while at the same time introducing new sanctions against people and entities with ties to the Kremlin.
“Today President Donald J. Trump ordered the expulsion of dozens of Russian intelligence officers from the United States and the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle due to its proximity to one of our submarine bases and Boeing,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “The United States takes this action in conjunction with our NATO allies and partners around the world in response to Russia’s use of a military-grade chemical weapon on the soil of the United Kingdom, the latest in its ongoing pattern of destabilizing activities around the world.”
European Council President Donald Tusk said that 14 European Union countries would expel Russia diplomats as well, and those announcements came in rapid succession, from France and Germany to Latvia and Estonia.
U.S. officials called the March 4 poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England an attack on America’s closest ally and a reckless attempt to murder a British citizen on British soil. They said there are more than 100 Russian intelligence agents under cover as diplomats in the U.S. and described the number as unacceptable.
QuickTake: The Russian Nerve Agent That’s Spooking Britain
Russia’s state-owned news service said the Kremlin will respond in “coming days.
The 60 people expelled from the U.S. include 48 attached to the Russian embassy and 12 at the country’s mission to the United Nations. They have seven days to leave the country, the officials said.
The MOEX Russia index of stocks fell as much as 1.5 percent after the news. The ruble pared its gain against the dollar. The 10-year ruble bond dropped, lifting the yield four basis points to 7.05 percent. Russian credit-default swaps climbed to the highest since Jan. 1.
The U.K. already expelled 23 Russian diplomats in response to the attack on Skripal and his daughter, which Prime Minister Theresa May’s government determined was perpetrated by Russia. Putin’s government in turn ordered 23 British diplomats out of Russia over what it called “unsubstantiated accusations,” and the Kremlin on Monday said it would act reciprocally if Trump expels officials.
Germany expelled four Russian diplomats on Monday, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said on Twitter, citing Russia’s lack of an explanation over the Salisbury attack. “We didn’t take this decision lightly,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.
‘Highly Likely’
Last week EU leaders declared in a statement that it was “highly likely” there was “no plausible alternative explanation” other than Russia being to blame.
While the U.K. and EU also recalled their ambassadors from Russia in response to the attack, the U.S. has no plans to withdraw diplomats from the country, the officials said.
U.S. policy toward Russia has grown more aggressive in recent months, but some Trump critics say he’s been slow to respond to Putin’s provocations. Some have drawn a connection to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of possible collusion between Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Russian government, as well as Trump’s past business relationships with Russian figures.
Trump faced criticism last week for calling Putin to congratulate him on his re-election, a vote observers said was marred by irregularities. After the call, Trump said he hoped to meet with Putin in the “not-too-distant future.”
“The United States stands ready to cooperate to build a better relationship with Russia, but this can only happen with a change in the Russian government’s behavior,” Sanders said in her statement.
Undercover Spies
It is common for countries to station intelligence agents overseas under cover as diplomats, whose presence at embassies is accepted with a wink and a nod by their host nations.
The Obama administration expelled 35 Russian diplomats and shut down two embassy compounds that it said were used for “intelligence-related purposes” in December 2016 in response to alleged Kremlin hacking of the presidential elections Trump won.
Putin held back from an immediate response, a decision praised as “very smart” by Trump, who’d campaigned on a pledge of improved relations with the Kremlin leader. But after legislators passed a law last July that prevented Trump from easing sanctions without congressional approval, Putin ordered the U.S. to cut staff at its diplomatic missions in Russia by 755, or nearly two-thirds, by Sept. 1, to create parity with Russian embassy officials in the U.S.
— With assistance by Jennifer Jacobs, Richard Bravo, Andrea Dudik, Anthony Halpin, and Ksenia Galouchko
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-to-expel-60-russian-diplomats-for-u-k-attack
By
Jennifer Epstein
and
Jennifer Jacobs
Updated on
- The president also ordered Russian consulate in Seattle closed
- Moves are the most aggressive by U.S. in Trump presidency
President Trump reportely expelled 60 Russian diplomats in response to an attack on a U.K. spy.
President Donald Trump ordered 60 Russian diplomats the U.S. considers spies to leave the country in response to the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy in the U.K. and closed Russia’s consulate in Seattle, as European allies and Canada took similar measures.
The expulsions are the most aggressive U.S. move against Russia under Trump, who has sought a closer personal relationship with President Vladimir Putin while at the same time introducing new sanctions against people and entities with ties to the Kremlin.
“Today President Donald J. Trump ordered the expulsion of dozens of Russian intelligence officers from the United States and the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle due to its proximity to one of our submarine bases and Boeing,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “The United States takes this action in conjunction with our NATO allies and partners around the world in response to Russia’s use of a military-grade chemical weapon on the soil of the United Kingdom, the latest in its ongoing pattern of destabilizing activities around the world.”
European Council President Donald Tusk said that 14 European Union countries would expel Russia diplomats as well, and those announcements came in rapid succession, from France and Germany to Latvia and Estonia.
U.S. officials called the March 4 poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England an attack on America’s closest ally and a reckless attempt to murder a British citizen on British soil. They said there are more than 100 Russian intelligence agents under cover as diplomats in the U.S. and described the number as unacceptable.
QuickTake: The Russian Nerve Agent That’s Spooking Britain
Russia’s state-owned news service said the Kremlin will respond in “coming days.
The 60 people expelled from the U.S. include 48 attached to the Russian embassy and 12 at the country’s mission to the United Nations. They have seven days to leave the country, the officials said.
The MOEX Russia index of stocks fell as much as 1.5 percent after the news. The ruble pared its gain against the dollar. The 10-year ruble bond dropped, lifting the yield four basis points to 7.05 percent. Russian credit-default swaps climbed to the highest since Jan. 1.
The U.K. already expelled 23 Russian diplomats in response to the attack on Skripal and his daughter, which Prime Minister Theresa May’s government determined was perpetrated by Russia. Putin’s government in turn ordered 23 British diplomats out of Russia over what it called “unsubstantiated accusations,” and the Kremlin on Monday said it would act reciprocally if Trump expels officials.
Germany expelled four Russian diplomats on Monday, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said on Twitter, citing Russia’s lack of an explanation over the Salisbury attack. “We didn’t take this decision lightly,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.
‘Highly Likely’
Last week EU leaders declared in a statement that it was “highly likely” there was “no plausible alternative explanation” other than Russia being to blame.
While the U.K. and EU also recalled their ambassadors from Russia in response to the attack, the U.S. has no plans to withdraw diplomats from the country, the officials said.
U.S. policy toward Russia has grown more aggressive in recent months, but some Trump critics say he’s been slow to respond to Putin’s provocations. Some have drawn a connection to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of possible collusion between Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Russian government, as well as Trump’s past business relationships with Russian figures.
Trump faced criticism last week for calling Putin to congratulate him on his re-election, a vote observers said was marred by irregularities. After the call, Trump said he hoped to meet with Putin in the “not-too-distant future.”
“The United States stands ready to cooperate to build a better relationship with Russia, but this can only happen with a change in the Russian government’s behavior,” Sanders said in her statement.
Undercover Spies
It is common for countries to station intelligence agents overseas under cover as diplomats, whose presence at embassies is accepted with a wink and a nod by their host nations.
The Obama administration expelled 35 Russian diplomats and shut down two embassy compounds that it said were used for “intelligence-related purposes” in December 2016 in response to alleged Kremlin hacking of the presidential elections Trump won.
Putin held back from an immediate response, a decision praised as “very smart” by Trump, who’d campaigned on a pledge of improved relations with the Kremlin leader. But after legislators passed a law last July that prevented Trump from easing sanctions without congressional approval, Putin ordered the U.S. to cut staff at its diplomatic missions in Russia by 755, or nearly two-thirds, by Sept. 1, to create parity with Russian embassy officials in the U.S.
— With assistance by Jennifer Jacobs, Richard Bravo, Andrea Dudik, Anthony Halpin, and Ksenia Galouchko
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-to-expel-60-russian-diplomats-for-u-k-attack
