Russia told the United States today to withdraw 50 US diplomats from Moscow by the summer, in retaliation for the 50 Russian diplomats told yesterday to leave the United States by July 1, officials said.
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The Stars and Stripes flies outside
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But the US said it wanted to close the book on expulsions, indicating that it would not retaliate in turn.
"The president now considers the matter closed," White House spokesman Mr Ari Fleischer told reporters traveling with President George W. Bush aboard Air Force One.
Mr Bush told reporters he thought Moscow would understand the US did the right thing in expelling the Russian diplomats, in the wake of FBI agent Mr Robert Hanssen's arrest on charges of spying for Russia.
The tit-for-tat expulsions should not prevent him meeting Russian President Mr Vladimir Putin, he added.
Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell also tried to play down the effect the expulsions would have on relations.
He said Washington told Russia to withdraw the diplomats only because of the Hanssen case and because the Russian intelligence presence in the United States was too large.
Mr Powell said he spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Mr Igor Ivanov about the expulsions on yesterday night.
Asked how the United States would respond to the Russian expulsions, Mr Powell said: "We will see what we can do about isolating this one incident but we will wait to see the totality of the Russian response."