US
President Donald Trump has ordered the expulsion of 60 alleged Russian
spies from the United States in response to a nerve agent attack on an
ex-spy in the English city of Salisbury.
White
House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the move, part of globally
coordinated retaliation against Moscow, was taken "in response to
Russia's use of a military-grade chemical weapon on the soil of the
United Kingdom."
Officials
said that 48 "known intelligence officers" posted to the United States
and 12 more at the Russian mission to the United Nations now have seven
days to leave the country.
Trump
has also ordered the closure of the consulate in Seattle, which
officials said was the focus of spying efforts against the nearby Kitsap
submarine base and Boeing.
One
senior administration official said that there were still more that 40
known Russian intelligence officers operating in the United States, but
Moscow's "collection capabilities" would be "significantly" affected by
the move.
On
March 4, former spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were
found unconscious, slumped on a bench outside a shopping center in
Salisbury.
After
initial mixed messages about who was to blame, Washington now agrees
with Britain's assessment Russia was behind the attack.
The message, a second senior administration said, is "when you attack our friends you will face consequences.”
AFP
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