Russia to retaliate by closing US Consulate in St. Petersburg, foreign minister says

DCNFRyan Pickrell, DCNF

Russia is retaliating against the U.S. decision to expel Russian diplomats and shutter the Russian consulate in Seattle by closing the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg and expelling diplomats, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed Thursday.

US Consulate General at Furstatskaya Street in St Petersburg (Photo by Peter KovalevTASS via Getty Images)

In the wake of a nerve agent attack on an ex-spy and his daughter in the U.K., the U.S. and dozens of other countries around the world kicked out Russian diplomats in response. As the substance used in the attack was Novichok, a Cold War-era chemical weapon developed by the Soviet Union, and one of the victims was a former Russian intelligence officer who became a double agent for the British, the U.K. has blamed the Russian government.

The U.K. and Russia have engaged in tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats in recent weeks as London criticizes Russia for using chemical weapons in an attack on British soil and Moscow denies any involvement.

The U.S., standing in support of America’s long-time ally, expelled 60 Russian diplomats and closed a consulate. As other countries did the same, Moscow criticized the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against it. Russia warned that it would eventually retaliate against the U.S. In addition to closing the consulate in St. Petersburg and expelling U.S. diplomats, Moscow has also reportedly summoned the U.S. ambassador to Russia.

The decision to close the consulate in St. Petersburg follows a Twitter poll released by the Russian Embassy in the U.S. asking Twitter users to choose which U.S. consulate Russia should close in response. The consulate in St. Petersburg won with 47 percent of the vote.

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