The statement from the office of White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that the US' prior decision to expel 60 Russian diplomats was "an appropriate response to the Russian attack on the soil of the United Kingdom."
"Russia's response was not unanticipated, and the United States will deal with it," it continued.
The White House statement comes hours after the US State Department noted that it would be taking additional actions in response to Russia's decision to expel the 60 US diplomats and close the US Consulate General in Saint Petersburg.
"There is no justification for the Russian response," Heather Nauert, the spokesperson for the State Department, said early Thursday. "Our actions were motivated purely by the attack on the United Kingdom."
It was also stated that Russia shouldn't act "like a victim."
More than 150 Russian diplomats have been ordered back home in response to the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, which has been repeatedly been blamed on Russia. The series of expulsions began on March 14 after UK Prime Minister Theresa May blamed the March 4 nerve agent attack on Moscow and announced that she would be expelling 23 Russian diplomats from the UK.
