The U.S. and Russia Expel Each Other’s Diplomats in Fallout From Attack Outside Embassy

There has been a bit of diplomatic tension between the United States and Russia since last month when a Russian policeman attacked a U.S. diplomat outside the Moscow embassy.

According to The Washington Post, the Russian FSB officer tackled the U.S. diplomat and left him with a broken shoulder. The United States says this attack was unprovoked, while Russia claims the diplomat was actually a CIA spy who hit first after being asked to show his documents.

Russian TV ran footage this week of what appears to be that very attack:

Well, the U.S. State Department announced yesterday that they expelled two Russian diplomats in response. Spokesman John Kirby said, “The action was unprovoked and it endangered the safety of our employee. The Russian claim that the policeman was protecting the embassy from an unidentified individual is simply untrue.”

And not only has Russia expelled two U.S. diplomats in retaliation, but one of those diplomats was the one involved in the brawl:

Sergei Ryabkov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, accused the US diplomats of being CIA agents and declared them “persona non grata for activities incompatible with their diplomatic status”.

Ryabkov’s full statement is here, and in it he engages in all kinds of attacks on the U.S. and the State Department.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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