US officials said Saturday that a Russian plane has landed in the United States to pick up 12 diplomats expelled from the Russian UN mission and accused by Washington of "espionage."

The Flight aware portal, which records all air movements in the US territory, announced that an Ilyushin IL-96 has landed at Washington International Airport.

"The U.S. government has given the green light to this aircraft, chartered by the Russian government, to facilitate the departure of diplomats from the Russian mission to the United Nations," a State Department spokeswoman told Agence France-Presse (AFP), quoted by Lusa.

The "exception" is to ensure their departure and that of their families "on the date imposed," the same source added.

The US has closed its airspace to all Russian aircraft after Moscow invaded Ukraine last week.

The United States announced on Monday the expulsion of "12 intelligence officials from the Russian mission, who abused" their diplomatic status in the United States "by engaging in espionage activities."

The next day, with the same argument, they ordered the departure by March 7 of a Russian national working in the UN secretariat.

The Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoli Antonov, called the move "a hostile act" against his country.

The Russian mission to the UN has about 100 employees, according to a Russian diplomatic source.

Source: lusa