TUG OF WAR

Moscow Warns It Will Force U.S. Diplomats Out of Russia as Tensions Mount

Russia says it will be removing U.S. diplomats in a matter of weeks, just as U.S. and Russian officials are set to meet to try smoothing over tensions.

Russia has warned it will be forcing U.S. diplomats out of Russia before the end of next month, in the latest tit-for-tat diplomatic souring between Moscow and Washington. Russia’s foreign ministry has suggested the decision is a retaliatory measure in response to the U.S. ordering Russian diplomats to leave the U.S., and Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov urged the U.S. to back off its decision. The announcement of the removal comes just as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this Thursday in an attempt to smooth things over as Russian military forces inch closer to what officials say could be a planned military incursion into Ukraine.