Russia to retaliate with diplomat expulsions, consulate closure Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday Moscow would expel 60 US diplomats and close its consulate in Saint Petersburg in a tit-for-tat expulsion over the poisoning of ex-double agent Sergei Skripal. Lavrov added that Russia would also issue tit-for-tat responses to the other countries that have expelled diplomats in a mass show of support for Britain which has blamed Moscow for the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a nerve agent in the city of Salisbury. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITECOMPLETES VID1162419_EN