US expels Russian diplomats

Moscow: Russian Ambassador to the United States said that 27 more Russian diplomats and their families were expelled from the United States and would leave on Jan. 30.

“Our diplomats are being expelled...A large group of my comrades, 27 people with families, will leave us on January 30... We are facing a serious staff shortage,” Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said in a video interview for the Soloviev Live Youtube channel aired late on Saturday. Russia has previously said that over 100 of its diplomats with families had been forced to leave the United States since 2016 when the relationship between the two countries worsened.

As of Oct. 29, nearly 200 Russian diplomats were still in their jobs in the United States, including the staff of the Russian mission to the United Nations, according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow stopped processing nondiplomatic visas this year.