President of the United States Donald Trump considered several options for Russia's response because of her involvement in the poisoning of ex-intelligence agent Sergei Skripal in the UK. This is reported by The Washington Post referring to sources surrounded by the president.
Sources said that Trump offered three options: soft, medium and hard. Trump chose the medium-expulsion of 48 diplomats from the embassy in Washington and 12 from the UN mission in New York, and the closure of the consulate in Seattle.
What were the conditions of the hard option - unknown. According to some reports, another 40 diplomats who could be implicated in espionage.
In conversation with the European leaders, Trump said that he was not interested in expelling Russian diplomats, unless the rest of the country did the same.
On March 26, Trump ordered the expulsion of dozens of Russian diplomats and the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle. Russia responded by sending 60 American diplomats.
Source: LIGA.