China News Agency, Moscow, February 17 (Reporter Tian Bing) Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zakharova made a comment on the 17th that Gorman, the deputy ambassador of the US Embassy in Russia, was asked to leave the country, saying that the move was not Russian. Deliberate upgrade.

　　Zakharova said Gorman was indeed asked to leave Russia, but strictly speaking in response to the unreasonable expulsion of a minister-counselor at the Russian embassy in the United States.

In addition, the US State Department ignored Russia's call to extend its stay at least until the arrival of "replacement" personnel, and was forced to leave the United States without a replacement, which exacerbated the "visa war" launched by the United States. The Russian diplomatic mission in the United States is already severely understaffed.

　　Zakharova pointed out that the United States initiated the expulsion operation in September last year, which required 55 Russian diplomats and administrative and technical personnel in the United States to leave the United States in two batches on January 30 and June 30 this year.

All Russian attempts to resolve the issue by mutual "freezing" of deportations have been rejected.

In addition, the U.S. State Department also imposed this substantial sanction on the Russian Minister-Counselor in the United States, "although they are well aware that Russia will then respond to Gorman reciprocally."

　　Zakharova reiterated that the mass expulsion of diplomats and the intensifying "visa war" are not options for Russia.

The Russian side has repeatedly proposed to the US side at different levels to stop deteriorating the conditions for the operation of the diplomatic missions of the two countries and to lift all restrictive measures introduced in recent years.

"Unfortunately, in the understanding of the U.S. government, the normalization of bilateral relations is a one-way street where only U.S. interests are guaranteed and everything else can be ignored. Of course, we do not intend to tolerate such discriminatory practices."

　　A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Russia confirmed to the media earlier on the 17th that Gorman, the U.S. deputy ambassador to Russia, was expelled from Russia.

As a senior career diplomat, Gorman was responsible for "key aspects of the U.S.-Russian relationship."

The U.S. embassy believes that Russia's move to expel U.S. diplomats is unreasonable.

The United States believes that Russia's move is to put pressure on the United States, and the United States is studying possible response measures.

　　In April last year, the US announced large-scale sanctions against Russia and expelled Russian diplomats, citing Russia's alleged "cyber attack and interference in the US election".

Russia then took countermeasures and added it to the list of countries unfriendly to Russia, and banned the U.S. embassy in Russia from hiring local employees.

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