The U.S. and Russia Are Caught in a Downward Spiral
In a tit-for-tat move, Moscow expelled 60 U.S. diplomats and ordered the consulate in St. Petersburg closed.
Russia ordered 60 U.S. diplomats to leave the country by April 5, and said the American consulate in St. Petersburg must close by March 31. This action—the expulsion of 60 diplomats and the closing of a consulate—is a precise parallel to a move announced this week by the Trump administration, which was responding to Moscow’s alleged role in the attempted assassination by nerve agent of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy, and his daughter, Yulia, in the U.K.
The U.S. action was coordinated
