Trump’s New War Cabinet: Pompeo Pick Results in Expulsion of Russian Diplomats and Espionage
The United States of America now officially has a new secretary of state. It's our equivalent of a minister of foreign affairs. After President Trump fired Tillerson via Twitter, Mike Pompeo, a former CIA director, became the new head of US diplomacy. He has no experience with international diplomacy, but his diplomatic debut turned out to be bright: 60 of our diplomats were expelled from the US. The decision was made after Tillerson's resignation. So, Mike Pompeo is definitely involved in this. And he's definitely involved in the disgusting attempts to recruit our departing diplomats, as in, to send them back to Moscow with a US mission. That's nice.
But in Moscow, US Ambassador Huntsman deceitfully declares:
"We can sit down and honestly talk about what it means to be a reliable and responsible partner". But this is exactly what we can't do because neither the Americans nor the British want to have an honest discussion. They don't want to have a discussion at all. Only ultimatums, sanctions, and expulsions. This is a destruction of diplomacy as a way to solve problems and the destruction of diplomacy as a profession.
After all, if people who are appointed top diplomats are very far from international relations, then this embodies a well-known slogan: "Every cook can govern a country." We've been there, done that. We know — it's a bad idea. But for now over there, it'll be like this.
What will this lead to? Here's Alexander Khristenko report from the US.
The departing diplomats were seen off by the whole embassy. Employees of our diplomatic mission, who were declared personae non grata, rushed to the bus with their spouses and children. To the sound of the march Farewell of Slavianka, they shook hands with colleagues who remained and wished each other good luck.
The gate is open. Buses with Russian flags leave as our diplomats leave the premises of the embassy as well as the territory of the US as they head straight to the airport. This is the largest expulsion in the history of Russian-US relations—60 diplomats and their family members, that's 171 people, are leaving the US. Cars with diplomatic plates were driven without any obvious escort by the US side, but on the roadside, they were awaited by cars with special signals. They sent the column to a special airport entrance leading directly to the airfield. There, two government Il-96s from Russia's special flight detachment, which arrived from Moscow, were already waiting for our diplomats. After 2 hours, the planes took off. One made a landing in NY to pick up staff members of the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN along with consulate staff that the Americans also decided to expel. The second plane flew directly to Moscow. And by now, all our diplomats are home. And journalists had already scanned the QR-code placed on buses. When scanned with a smartphone, the code gave a link to the Ambassador's video message.
Anatoly Antonov, Russian Ambassador: "Today dozens of our colleagues, Russian diplomats, are leaving the US. They are not America's enemies. The US authorities expelled their friends; diplomats who were developing relations between Russia and the United States".
- Welcome to the Russian Cultural Center.
-Thank you.
The now former director of the center, Oleg Zhiganov, said this phrase to numerous guests in the spirit of maximum openness. But the head of the cultural center was included in the expulsion list by the US authorities.
Oleg Zhiganov: "Can you imagine, I'm supposedly a threat to the US".
One of the walls has pictures of US and Russian astronauts, Yuri Gagarin, and the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who opened this cultural center in DC in 1999. The painting symbolizes the era of rivalry between the superpowers, which then turned into cooperation. But how do we portray what is happening now?
Oleg Zhiganov: "The anti-Russian hysteria of the US establishment has reached such a level that it simply does not lend itself to any logical reasoning".
Among those who were declared personae non grata are very young diplomats, but also very experienced high-ranking employees, for example, the trade representative of Russia, Alexander Stadnik, from whom the US has seized the Trade Mission building in DC, and at the same time our consulate in San Francisco. The same fate will befall the Consulate General's residence in Seattle. Despite the fact that this is Russian state property, which Washington demanded be vacated by April 24.
But the consulate itself had to be closed this Friday. During its last days of operation, the lobby was crowded by people who were hoping to pick up completed documents at the last moment. At that time, boxes were piling up all the way to the ceiling. The US justified the consulate closure in Seattle by the fact that it's too close to Boeing's factory and the Kitsap submarine base.
Valery Timashov, Consul General in Seattle: "This is complete nonsense! And, of course, there is nothing to comment on. We deal with our direct consular duties on a daily basis, and we absolutely do not care about any bases. As for Boeing, I can say that our consulate issued visas to the employees of this large US corporation".
Moscow gave Washington an absolutely equal response: 60 US diplomats are being expelled, the consulate in St. Petersburg is being closed. But the State Department was outraged by this.
Heather Nauert, State Department spokesman: It's becoming clear that Russia doesn't want dialogue, and I want to emphasize that there's no excuse for Russia's retaliatory actions."
- When you say Russia doesn't have a reason for this response, I'm not sure I understand. You kicked out 60 of their people.
- Let me explain, the US, in concert with many other countries, decided to expel Russian spies. We do not see this as a diplomatic 'tit for tat.' Russia is responsible for that horrific attack on a British citizen and his daughter.
- So you're saying that the diplomats that are being expelled are not spies under diplomatic cover?
- I'm saying that they work for the US State Department; they are our colleagues who have served there with great distinction.
The White House said that the decision on the biggest expulsion of Russian diplomats in history was made personally by Trump. He himself did not say a word on this topic to either the cameras or on Twitter all week. But he received applause for the anti-Russian actions.
Victoria Nuland, Secretary of State: "I'm glad now that we have a coordinated stance with our key partners on Russia, I think it's the first time when the Trump administration coordinated with allies, now we must keep the pressure on every front."
Michael Hayden, former CIA Director: "A lot of what's happening is familiar, it's a bit like in the old days, we are tough on Russia, we act in concert with allies around the world, and we have a leading role. This is very unlike Trump, and I'm very happy to see it all".
Donald Trump is still at the center of the Mueller investigation, who is looking for signs of a possible collusion between the US leader and the Kremlin. The Republicans still have to deal with the upcoming midterm elections. Taking an anti-Russian stance ensures their best chances of winning. The administration made it clear that they could go even further.
- Can we rule out new expulsions, closures, and so on?
Anatoly Antonov, Russian Ambassador to the US: We can't rule out anything right now. Unfortunately, we know how unpredictable some politicians are in the current administration. But we are hoping that rational, prudent thinking will prevail.
On the official level, such appeals are only being heard from the Russian side for now.
Alexander Khristenko, Valentin Bogdanov, Nikolai Koskin, and Ivan Utkin. From DC and Seattle — Vesti, News of the Week.