Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Friday that he would seek presidential approval to declare 31 employees of the U.S. embassy in Moscow and four from the consulate general in St. Petersburg “personae non gratae.”
The move came in retaliation for U.S. President Barack Obama’s Thursday announcement that 35 Russian intelligence operatives would be booted from the country in response to alleged election interference.
“We of course cannot leave these tricks unanswered, reciprocity is the law of diplomacy and international relations,” Lavrov said, according to state-run news agency TASS.
The foreign minister said a number of counter-measures to the U.S. sanctions had been proposed to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, including a ban on Americans using the U.S. Embassy vacation dacha in Serebryany Bor on the outskirts of Moscow.
Lavrov said accusations that Russia had meddled in the recent American presidential elections were groundless.