WarSclerotic

Vladimir Putin orders 755 American diplomats to leave Russia, Washington Examiner, Kelly Cohen, July 30, 2017

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday ordered 755 U.S. diplomats to leave Russia.

According to AFP, Putin ordered the diplomats to leave Russia Sunday and added there would be no improvement in relations between the U.S. and Russia soon.

The move appears to make good on a promise Moscow made on Friday threatening to cut hundreds of diplomatic staff in response to the new sanctions legislation.

Russia also said it would seize two U.S. diplomatic properties in retaliation to the legislation.

When the bill beomes law, Trump will be unable to ease sanctions against Russia unless he gets congressional approval to do so. The legislation cleared Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support, by a 98-2 vote in the Senate and 419-3 in the House.

The legislation is part of a larger response to Russia’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a conclusion reached with certainty by the U.S. intelligence community.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister said his country’s retaliation over U.S. actions against Russia was “overdue.”

“I think this retaliation is long, long overdue,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on ABC’s “This Week” earlier on Sunday.

“We have a very rich toolbox at our disposal. It would be ridiculous on my part to start speculating on what may or may not happen,” Ryabkov said. “I can assure you that different options are on the table and consideration is being given to all sorts of things, both symmetrical or asymmetrical, to use a very popular word in the world of diplomacy.”

This entry was posted on July 30, 2017 at 8:19 PM and is filed under Russia and America, Russian interference in U.S. elections, Russian sanctions, U.S. Congress, U.S. diplomats. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Russia and America, Russian interference in U.S. elections, Russian sanctions, U.S. Congress, U.S. diplomats