State Dept Says 'There Is No Justification' For Russia Expelling U.S. Diplomats

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert on Thursday castigated Russia for expelling 60 U.S. diplomats from the country and closing the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg, saying that Moscow has "no justification" for doing so.

Russia's announcement on Thursday came days after the Trump administration ordered 60 Russian intelligence officers acting as diplomats to leave the U.S. and the closure of Russia's consulate in Seattle. Washington's decision was a response to the nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain, which the U.S. and its European allies have blamed on Moscow.

"There is no justification for the Russian response. Our actions were motivated purely by the attack on the United Kingdom, the attack on a British citizen, and his daughter," Nauert said at a press briefing. "Remember, this is the first time that a weapons-grade nerve agent, Novichok, has been used outside of war on allied soil."