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Russia’s Retaliation: Lavrov Says Tit-for-Tat Measures Are Ready to be Deployed Against West

Russia has decided on how to respond to the expulsion of diplomats from the US and Europe. The Head of the Russian MFA, Sergey Lavrov said these will be tit-for-tat measures, and more. Particularly, we know that 60 reps of the US diplomatic mission must leave Russia by April 5th. Also, the US General Embassy in St. Petersburg will be shut down. The US Ambassador Jon Huntsman was already notified of this. Anastasia Efimova will report with the details. 'Tit-for-tat measures and more', that's how Sergey Lavrov has described Russia's actions in response to a whole series of actions by Europe and the US to exile Russian diplomats. For now, we know that the US Ambassador Jon Huntsman was summoned here, to the MFA building on Smolenskaya Square. He was notified about the expulsion of 60 US diplomats from Russia, 58 of them are the employees of the Embassy in Moscow, 2 more are Consulate employees in Ekaterinburg. We also know that the US General Consulate in St. Petersburg will be shut down. Jon Huntsman has been notified of all this, and other countries can expect similar tit-for-tat measures. Sergey Lavrov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs: "These will be tit-for-tat measures that will include the expulsion of the same amount of diplomats. This also means we'll revoke our agreement for the functioning of the US General Consulate in St. Petersburg. As far as the other countries go, they can expect similar measures when it comes to the number of people that will have to leave the RF from the diplomatic missions. Basically, this is all for now". Besides, Russia is trying to work on the international dialogue about the Skripal case. For this purpose, Moscow suggests holding an emergency session with the OPCW on Monday. I remind you that the experts from the OPCW are working in the UK now, upon London's invite. As Sergey Lavrov has reminded today, they're competent to determine the chemical compound of the substance that the Skripals were poisoned with. However, this doesn't mean that the OPCW has the right to confirm London's version. If this emergency session does take place on April 2nd, Moscow is counting on an honest dialogue, where they can ask questions and receive answers. Sergey Lavrov: "In order to have a normal conversation, to find the truth, we have officially suggested holding an emergency session with the OPCW where we can ask the questions we have asked many times before, but we'll do it in the aggregate. I count on our Western partners to not avoid an honest discussion. Otherwise, it'll just confirm that this whole thing is a deliberate, grossest provocation". Also, Moscow continues insisting on Consular access to Yulia Skripal. I remind you, she's a Russian citizen. According to the UK media and the New Scotland Yard, her condition is getting much better. All international regulations guarantee such Consular access for the Russian diplomats. However, London still denies Russia this opportunity. As Sergey Lavrov has said today, "We haven't seen such mocking at the international regulations yet". Anastasia Efimova, Sergey Truskov, and Dmitry Matrosov, Vesti.

Russia’s Retaliation: Lavrov Says Tit-for-Tat Measures Are Ready to be Deployed Against West
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