The move to equal the number of Russian diplomats in the US by September 1, calculated at 455 diplomatic staff members, was announced on Sunday.
President Vladimir Putin, told the Rossiya 1 TV channel in an interview that 755 American diplomats will actually “have to leave Russia as a result of Washington’s own policies”.
Putin also told the Russian audience: “The American side has made a move which, it is important to note, hasn’t been provoked by anything, to worsen Russian-US relations. [It includes] unlawful restrictions, attempts to influence other states of the world, including our allies, who are interested in developing and keeping relations with Russia.”
The Russian president said: “We’ve been waiting for quite a long time that maybe something would change for the better, we had hopes that the situation would change. But it looks like, it’s not going to change in the near future… I decided that it is time for us to show that we will not leave anything unanswered.”
Putin added that “the personnel of the US 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” the Russian leader said, adding that “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.”
The diplomatic missions of Russia and the United States now have equal staffing. Russia had also warned that it would seize two diplomatic compounds used by the US in Russia. But Reuters reported that Russia would not impose additional measures against US as Putin said he was against such steps for now.
“We could imagine, theoretically, that one day a moment would come when the damage of attempts to put pressure on Russia will be comparable to the negative consequences of certain limitations of our cooperation. Well, if that moment ever comes, we could discuss other response options. But I hope it will not come to that. As of today, I am against it.”
As we reported late last week, following the House’s approval of new sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea, the Russian foreign ministry told Washington to reduce the number of its diplomatic staff in Russia, which currently includes more than 1,200 personnel, to 455 people as of September 1.
According to Bloomberg, Russia’s reaction was harsher than many officials had signaled, “and threatens to cast the two nuclear-armed powers into a fresh spiral of tensions, even as relations are already at their lowest since the Cold War.” Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Moscow told Bloomberg by email: “Russians will have to wait much longer to get a visa.”
Andrew Weiss, a former top Russia expert on the National Security Council and now vice-president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said on Twitter: “Totally unwarranted, disproportionate move by the Kremlin.”
The US State Department declined to comment on the exact number of embassy and consular staff in Russia, Reuters reported.
