Russia: US Ambassador to Russia Huntsman justifies expulsion of Russian diplomats on Russia's day of grief

US Ambassador to Russia John Huntsman explained that the official statement about the expulsion of Russian diplomats was not postponed because of difficulties in coordinating actions of all countries.Asked whether the United States considered postponing the announcement of the expulsion of Russian diplomats due to the tragedy in Kemerovo, Huntsman replied that the time for the  announcement of such decisions was always difficult to coordinate due to the large number of participants. He added that the announcement of the decision to expel Russian diplomats from so many countries in connection with the poisoning of Sergei Skripal spoke of something extraordinary. At the same time, John Huntsman expressed very deep and sincere condolences to families whose children and relatives died in the fire at the shopping center in Siberia. Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, reproached the United States and other Western countries for announcing the expulsion of Russian diplomats the day when Russia was grieving over the death of so many children. According to her, civilised and decent people should have expressed sympathy and condolences to Russian citizens.Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru