WASHINGTON — The White House announced on Monday that Russia’s consulate in Seattle is being closed and that 60 of the country’s diplomats will be expelled from the United States as a response to the Kremlin’s suspected role in the poisoning of a Russian defector in Britain earlier this month. The United Kingdom and 13 other countries said they would also send Russian diplomats home.
According to one of the senior administration officials who announced the U.S. action on a conference call with reporters, the expulsions will “help curtail Russia’s increasingly aggressive intelligence activities.” The official cited Moscow’s use of its “diplomatic establishments as intelligence platforms from which they collect information and conduct destabilizing activities in the U.S. and around the world.” The officials said Russia’s consulate in Seattle was shut down due to its “proximity to one of our submarine bases and Boeing,” adding that the 60 diplomats are among “over 100” Russian intelligence officers currently in this country. The officials described the move as a “clear signal” to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country’s aggression will not be tolerated.
By Hunter Walker.
Full story at Yahoo News.
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