Russia on Thursday expelled 60 United States of America diplomats and closed the St Petersburg consulate.
This is in response to US action over a spy poisoning case in the UK.
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Labrov, made the announcement in Saint Petersburg in a tit-for-tat expulsion over the poisoning of ex-double agent, Sergei Skripal.
Lavrov said that the US ambassador had been informed of “retaliatory measures.”
The Minister added that “they include the expulsion of the equivalent number of diplomats and our decision to withdraw permission for the functioning of the US consulate general in Saint Petersburg.”
Washington earlier ordered the expulsion of 60 diplomats and shut down the Russian consulate general in Seattle.