RUSSIA TO EXPEL 10 U.S. DIPLOMATS, BAN ENTRY OF SENIOR OFFICIALS

Moscow plans to expel 10 diplomats from the United States and ban several high-ranking officials from entering Russia, in retaliation for sanctions imposed by Washington this week, Ulf Mauder and Christian Thiele reported for the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

The no-entry list includes the US attorney general Merrick Garland, the secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Christopher Wray and the director of national intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

In another report, Vladimir Isachenkov wrote for the Associated Press (AP) that Moscow will move to shut down US nongovernment organizations (NGOs) that remain in Russia to end what he described as their meddling in Russia’s politics.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin has suggested that US Ambassador John Sullivan follow the example of his Russian counterpart and head home for consultations.

Russia will also deny the US Embassy the possibility of hiring personnel from Russia and third countries as support staff, limit visits by US diplomats serving short-term stints at the embassy and tighten requirements for US diplomats’ travel in the country.

The others banned from entering Russia are Susan Rice, a former UN ambassador and now head of the Domestic Policy Council; John Bolton, who was a national security adviser under former President Donald Trump, James Woolsey, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director and Michael Carvajal, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

On Thursday, the Biden administration announced sanctions on Russia for interfering in the 2020 US presidential election and involvement in the SolarWind hack of federal agencies — activities Moscow has denied. The U.S. ordered 10 Russian diplomats expelled, targeted dozens of companies and people, and imposed new curbs on Russia’s ability to borrow money.

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