The United States has expelled 12 members of Russia’s UN mission from America for being intelligence operatives.
Spokeswoman for the US mission to the UN, Olivia Dalton, said those ordered to leave had abused their privileges of residency in the United States by engaging in espionage activities that are against US national security.
Richard Mills, the US’s deputy ambassador to the UN, had earlier told a Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine that the diplomats had engaged in non-diplomatic activities.
The Russian mission to the UN has around 100 staff, according to a Russian diplomatic source.