The United States said Thursday that it is considering a full range of options in response to the Belarus move to expel its diplomats but insisted that it has not made any formal decisions.
"There certainly are a number of steps, and we have told them that we are considering the full range of options in terms of our respective diplomatic presences," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said at the daily briefing.
"But at this point, we have not made any formal decisions to reduce staff beyond what this requirement has been because of their decision to PNG our personnel," Casey said.
Earlier Thursday, AP reported that the United States is ordering Belarus to close its embassy in Washington and consulate in New York and will shut down the U.S. Embassy in Belarus in a sharp escalation of diplomatic tension between the two countries.
The United States has slammed the demand by Belarus to ask 10 diplomats of the U.S. embassy in Minsk to leave in 72 hours as "unjustified and unwarranted."
"We told the Belarusians in private, and we will say in public, that we believe that this action is unjustified and unwarranted," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday.
Belarus sent a formal request to the U.S. embassy in Minsk on Wednesday and asked 10 U.S. diplomats to leave the country in 72 hours.
Belarus asked U.S. ambassador to Belarus Karen Stewart to leave in March and recalled its envoy to the United States.
According to the Foreign Ministry of Belarus, the moves have been taken to retaliate against Washington's new sanctions on Belarus' national oil products firm Belneftekhim last year.
Bilateral ties between the United States and Belarus have been chilly.
Source: Xinhua
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