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Putin reacts to sanctions and expels 755 US diplomats from Moscow

Monday, July 31st 2017 - 08:18 UTC
Full article 2 comments
“The personnel of the US diplomatic missions in Russia will be cut by 755 people and will equal the number of Russian diplomatic personnel in the United States” “The personnel of the US diplomatic missions in Russia will be cut by 755 people and will equal the number of Russian diplomatic personnel in the United States”
Putin's comments come on the same day that the Kremlin's deputy foreign minister said that Russian retaliation over U.S. sanctions is “long, long, overdue.” Putin's comments come on the same day that the Kremlin's deputy foreign minister said that Russian retaliation over U.S. sanctions is “long, long, overdue.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a television interview that the U.S. must cut the size of its diplomatic force in his country by more than half, from about 1,210 to 455. Putin said on Sunday that the cut will make the size of the U.S. diplomatic mission in his country equal to that of Russia's diplomatic corps in the U.S.

 “The personnel of the U.S. diplomatic missions in Russia will be cut by 755 people and will now equal the number of the Russian diplomatic personnel in the United States, 455 people on each side,” Putin said in an interview on the Rossiya 1 network.

“Because over a thousand employees, diplomats and technical personnel have been working and are still working in Russia, and 755 of them will have to cease their work in the Russian Federation. It’s considerable,” Putin said.

A State Department official called the move a “regrettable and uncalled for act.”

“We are assessing the impact of such a limitation and how we will respond to it.” the official said. “We have no further comment at this time.”

Putin's comments come on the same day that the Kremlin's deputy foreign minister said on ABC News' ”This Week“ that Russian retaliation over U.S. sanctions is ”long, long, overdue.“

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov talked to ”This Week“ co-anchor Martha Raddatz about the Kremlin's action Friday demanding a cut in the number of American diplomats in Russia and seizing two U.S. facilities.

”I think this retaliation is long, long overdue,“ Ryabkov said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the size of the U.S. diplomatic corps was being reduced to 455 but did not specify the size of the cut in U.S. staff. Ryabkov said Sunday that the Kremlin decided to act after Congress approved a new sanctions bill targeted at Russia as well as North Korea and Iran.

When the U.S. Senate on Thursday ”voted so overwhelmingly on a completely weird and unacceptable piece of legislation, it was the last drop,“ he said.

The new sanctions bill cleared Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support, by a 98-2 vote in the Senate and 419-3 in the House. The legislation now awaits President Trump's signature, and in a statement Friday night the White House said Trump ”approves the bill and intends to sign it.”

If Trump signs the new sanctions bill, it will be only the latest penalties imposed by the U.S. on Russia.

Former President Obama in late December expelled 35 Russian intelligence operatives and sanctioned five Russian entities and four individuals for an alleged cyber assault on Democratic political organizations during the 2016 presidential campaign. The U.S. also shut down two Russian compounds, in Maryland and New York that American officials said were used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related purposes.

Categories: Politics, International.

Top Comments

Disclaimer & comment rules
  • Brit Bob

    Russia tells Britain give back the Falklands before telling US what to do.

    RUSSIA has told Britain it should “clean its conscience” and give back the Falkland Islands before it criticizes them over their involvement in Ukraine. Moscow's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin made the shocking remarks when responding to his British counterpart Matthew Rycroft at a UN security council meeting in New York. (Daily Express 4 Feb 2017)

    Funny thing to say when Argentina has never legally owned the Falklands. So how can they 'be returned' ?

    Falklands- Never Belonged to Argentina:
    https://www.academia.edu/31111843/Falklands_Never_Belonged_to_Argentina

    Jul 31st, 2017 - 08:40 am +1
  • Don Alberto

    How cute.

    If the Americans expel the same number of Russian diplomats, the number of the staff in the Russian embassy in Washington will be close to minus 300.

    Aug 08th, 2017 - 09:46 pm 0
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