Putin wants 755 US diplomat staffers out following sanctions

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday the

Kremlin will expel 755 members of US diplomatic staff in Russia in

response to new sanctions against Russia.

"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," Putin said in an

interview broadcast with Russia’s Rossiya TV channel.

Moscow

ordered the US on Friday to cut its diplomatic staff to 455 people by

September 1 and said it would seize two US diplomatic properties after

the US Congress approved new sanctions on Russia.

Denouncing

the latest "unlawful" move by Washington to tighten sanctions against

Russia, Putin said "it was time to show that we're not going to leave

anything unanswered."

"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," Putin said.

In response, the US State Department deemed it “a regrettable and uncalled for act.”

Michael

McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, said in a post on Twitter on

Sunday, "We don't have 755 American diplomats in Russia." He said the

cuts would likely delay the application process for US visas.

(Screenshot from Twitter.com)

Putin

said Russia has prepared a large set of measures to respond to the US

when it is necessary, including restrictions in "sensitive" areas of

cooperation with the latter, which hopefully would not be affected for

the moment.

"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. 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," Putin said.

According to

the Russian president, the above-mentioned areas mostly include the

joint fight against terrorism, obligations in nuclear arms control and

space projects rather than economic relations.

The Russian

Foreign Ministry announced that Russia reserves the right to give an

adequate response if Washington takes further hostile measures.