Nearly 100 Russians forced to leave US after diplomats expelled

The US decision to expel 35 Russian diplomats affects a total of 96 people, including school-age children.

The US has ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, affecting a total of 96 people, including their families, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RT on December 30.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Photo: Sputnik

"Hopefully this is the last thing the current US administration does, a strange, unwise decision. It targets many issues, including ordinary people and their joy, which unites people around the world. Everyone is celebrating the New Year, but the Obama administration is acting like this," Zakharova said.

Zakharova said some Russian diplomats had worked in the US for many years, while others had only been posted for two months, but they were all expelled because of alleged Russian interference in the US elections in 2015 and early 2016. The Kremlin decided to send a plane to the US to pick up the staff.

According to Ms. Zakharova, Russia seriously considered how American colleagues would feel if they had to pack their belongings, their children had to stop their studies and return home within 72 hours as Washington did.

Moscow called the Obama administration's move a last-ditch effort to provoke the Russian government, which said its decision on future relations with the United States depended on the actions of President-elect Donald Trump.

The US on December 29 expelled 35 Russian diplomats and closed two Moscow facilities in New York and Maryland, claiming that Russian employees used them for "intelligence purposes".

According to VNE