TIT FOR TAT

Tillerson Vows Response to Russia’s Purge of U.S. Diplomats

Says he asked Russia’s foreign minister “several clarifying questions,” warned of Sept. 1 announcement.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he’s warned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Washington is preparing a response to Moscow’s decision to expel U.S. diplomats. Speaking on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum in Manila on Monday, Tillerson said he met with Lavrov and asked “several clarifying questions” about the Kremlin’s decision to expel American diplomats last month, a retaliatory move for Washington’s latest sanctions against Moscow. He said he told Lavrov the Trump administration would respond to the measure by Sept. 1. Tillerson said he also made it clear to Lavrov that Russia’s election meddling had led to “serious mistrust” and “damaged the relationship between the U.S. and the American people and the Russian people.”