The United State is expelling a Russian national who works for the UN Secretariat.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, "I can confirm that the US Mission to the United Nations informed the Secretariat on February 28 of its decision to take action under Section 13b of the UN-Headquarters Agreement with respect to a staff member in the Secretariat."
"We regret that we have found ourselves in this situation," he added. "However, we are interacting with the host country in accordance with Section 13b of the agreement."
"In regard to the privacy of the individual affected and the sensitivity of the case," the spokesman said, he would not provide any more details. He thinks the US decision is unusual because the staff member's contract was set to expire on March 14.
The United States announced on Monday that 12 personnel of the Russian Permanent Mission to the United Nations had been expelled. The US Permanent Mission to the United Nations labeled the 12 Russian diplomats as "intelligence operatives" who had misused their residency credentials in the US "by engaging in espionage activities," according to a statement.
Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, expressed regret over the US decision on Monday.
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