Forty-six staff members in the US diplomatic mission in Russia have been requested to leave Russia by July 1, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday.
The U.S. diplomats have already started to leave Russia, Interfax cited "diplomatic sources" as saying.
The on-going departure finalizes a major spy scandal that began in late March between Russian and the United States.
Washington ordered 50 Russian diplomats to leave for alleged espionage on March 21 as a retaliatory measure, because an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Robert Hanssen, was discovered spying for the former Soviet Union and Russia for 15 years.
The U.S. State Department on March 22 formally announced the expulsion of four Russian diplomats accused of direct involvement with the Hanssen case, and said that the additional 46 Russian embassy staff persons will also have to leave by July.
Moscow strongly protested Washington's decision and said that it would take adequate action in response.
On March 23, Russia declared four staff members from the U.S. embassy in Moscow "persona non grata" and demanded they leave Russia in the next few days, in response to the U.S. move.
A Russian Foreign Ministry statement said the U.S. diplomats would be driven out for "activities incompatible with their status. " Meanwhile, Moscow demanded that 46 other American diplomats leave Russia by July.
The four Russian and four American diplomats declared persona non grata, left their host countries in early April.
Washington said the remaining 46 staff members of the Russian embassy would leave by summer. Russia also said the same number of American diplomats would leave in July.
Moscow "mirrored the U.S. expulsion of a group of Russian diplomats," Interfax cited sources as saying Thursday.
According to US information, as of late March 2001, the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia had 500 American employees, among which were 325 diplomats. The missions also employs about 700 Russian citizens.
The United States has an embassy in Moscow and a Consulate General in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg.
After the mutual expulsions of four diplomats, Moscow and Washington said the incident was settled. But the whole expulsion incident has marked the most serious spy row between Russia and the U.S. since the end of the Cold War.
In 1971, the British government expelled 105 members of the Soviet diplomatic missions' staff. France expelled 47 Soviet representatives in 1983, and the American authorities expelled 80 members of the Soviet mission's staff in 1986.
(People's Daily 06/22/2001)
