In response to the expulsion of two Russian diplomats by the United States, Russian Ambassador to the United States Antonov stated that Washington did not provide any basis for the decision, which was of no benefit to US diplomacy and was actually a "mediocre retaliation.".

According to previous reports by US media, the US State Department announced on the 6th that two Russian embassy officials working in the United States will be classified as "unwelcome individuals" and deported in response to Russia's previous expulsion of two US embassy diplomats in Moscow.

According to TASS, Antonov stated that "I can confirm that a few days ago, the US government once again took countermeasures and declared two diplomats from the Russian embassy in the US as unwelcome." He added that surprisingly, when the Russian side submitted a note on expulsion, "the US side assured us that for some reason, they had no intention of making this public or sharing details with the media.".

Antonov continued, "We have been misled again, which goes against the basic principles of diplomatic communication. For the Biden administration, it is important to demonstrate that the recently expelled US diplomat from Russia has not received a response.".

According to previous reports by Russian media, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the US ambassador on September 14th and informed the US that the first and second secretaries of the US Embassy in Russia are "unwelcome individuals" and must leave within 7 days. According to the Russian news agency Sputnik, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that these two US diplomats have maintained contact with former US consulate informants and Russian citizen Shonov, and have been tasked with a paid mission aimed at undermining Russia's national security.

Shonov was detained by the Russian side in March this year. On September 15th, the US Embassy in Russia stated that it will never accept the expulsion of diplomats and stated that the US will provide an appropriate response.