Russian Ambassador: 'Our 50 Diplomats Are Being Expelled from the U.S.'

27 Russian diplomats and their families will be forced to leave the U.S. on January 30. The same number of Russian diplomatic professionals will depart the country six months later, on June 30. This was announced by Anatoly Antonov, the Russian Ambassador to the U.S., in Washington.

“Our diplomats are being expelled from the U.S. A large group of my friends—27 people with their families—will leave us on January 30. The same number will depart from here on June 30,” the ambassador stated, as reported by iz.ru.

On October 30, Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, announced that the U.S. planned to expel an additional 55 Russian diplomats. She clarified that currently, about 130 people work at American diplomatic missions in Russia, while less than 200 people are employed at the Russian diplomatic mission in Washington, as well as the consulates in New York and Houston.

That same month, U.S. senators urged President Joe Biden to expel 300 Russian diplomats if Moscow refuses to expand the U.S. embassy staff. According to Zakharova, the U.S. has solely reduced the number of consular staff at the Russian diplomatic mission, provoking a collapse of the Russian Federation's visa issuance services. She noted that the U.S. embassy is not actively engaged in any economic, political, or humanitarian areas.