Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will expel 755 US diplomatic staff and could consider imposing additional measures against the United States as a response to new US sanctions. Putin said in an interview televised on state television on Sunday that he ordered the move because he “thought it was the time to show that… </s> Russian president Vladimir Putin announced Sunday that he was ordering 755 American diplomats out of that country.

In an interview with the state-owned broadcaster Russia 24, Putin said the move was in response to “illegal restrictions” imposed on the country by the United States. Putin claims that there are over a "thousand" American diplomatic employees in Russia, but "755 will have to cease their activities in the Russian Federation."

The Senate passed a new round of sanctions on Thursday aimed at punishing Moscow for interfering on the United States’ presidential election, among other things.

A U.S. State Department official declined to comment Putin's annoucement, telling NBC News: "It is our policy to not comment on the number of individuals serving at our missions abroad." </s> MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin announced on Sunday that 755 American diplomats would be expelled from Russia by Sept. 1, escalating the tensions between Washington and Moscow.

Although the expulsions had been announced on Friday, in response to the new law passed in Congress last week expanding sanctions against Russia, the president’s statement was the first to confirm the large number of American diplomats involved.

Speaking in a television interview on the Rossiya 1 network, Mr. Putin said that Russia’s patience in waiting for improved relations with the United States had worn out.

“We waited for quite some time that maybe something will change for the better, had such hope that the situation will somehow change, but, judging by everything, if it changes, it will not be soon,” Mr. Putin said in the interview, according to Interfax news agency. </s> Russian President Vladimir Putin says 755 U.S. diplomats must leave Russia in comments that have come after Moscow directed Washington to reduce the size of its diplomatic staff in the country in an escalating row over sanctions.

 

 Speaking in an interview with Russian state television broadcast on July 30, Putin said that "more than a thousand people were working and are still working" at the U.S. embassy and consulates in Russia, and that "755 people must stop their activities in Russia."

 

 Moscow ordered the reduction in U.S. diplomatic staff after U.S. lawmakers passed a bill that would impose additional sanctions on Russia and sent it to President Donald Trump for his signature.

 

 The Russian Foreign Ministry said the sanctions legislation confirmed what it called the "extreme aggression" of the United States in international affairs.

 

 Putin's announcement came two days after the White House said Trump would sign the bill, which would require him to seek congressional approval in order to ease sanctions against Moscow.

 

 The Russian Foreign Ministry had previously said that Washington must reduce its diplomatic staff to 455 people by September 1.

 

 Putin said in the July 30 interview that the reduced U.S. diplomatic presence would be "quite painful."

Based on reporting by TASS, AFP, and Reuters </s> Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that 755 US diplomats must leave his country, after Moscow announced it would expel American staff in retaliation for tough new sanctions from Washington.

The Russian foreign ministry had earlier demanded the US cut its diplomatic presence in Russia by September to 455—the same number Moscow has in the US.

“More than a thousand people were working and are still working” at the US embassy and consulates, Putin said in an interview with Rossia-24 television. “755 people must stop their activities in Russia.” </s> Story highlights Putin says 755 staff will be cut from US missions

The move follows a US Congress decision to impose fresh Russian sanctions

Moscow (CNN) President Vladimir Putin has hit back at new American sanctions by ordering the US to cut staff at its diplomatic mission by 755, in Moscow's most aggressive move against Washington since the final years of the Cold War.

Putin confirmed the move Sunday after the Foreign Ministry on Friday demanded the US cut staff numbers and announced a rash of other measures against Washington's missions.

The measures came after the US Congress passed a bill last week imposing fresh sanctions over Russia's meddling in the US' 2016 election. President Donald Trump has indicated he will sign the sanctions bill into law.

The response represents a sharp downturn in US-Russia relations after signs that Trump wanted to develop a new partnership with Moscow.

If Russian state media figures are correct, the forced reduction in staff numbers would gut the US mission. Putin was quoted as saying 755 out of "a thousand or so" employees would "have to stop their activities in the Russian Federation." That number would include diplomats and technical workers, he said.

Read More </s> Russia is to expel 60 US diplomats and has ordered the closure of the US consulate in St. Petersburg, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday, in retaliation for a similar move by Washington.

Lavrov, making the announcement in Moscow, said the US ambassador Jon Huntsman had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry to be told of the decision.

The US expelled 60 diplomats on Monday as part of a coordinated global response to the poisoning of a former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, in Britain. The British government blames Russia for using a military-grade nerve agent for the poisoning, in the English city of Salisbury on March 4.

More than 20 countries said they would expel more than 100 Russian diplomats over the case.

Russia has firmly denied responsibility and President Vladimir Putin has dismissed it as "delirium." Russia had already been engaged in a tit-for-tat with Britain, with both countries expelling 23 diplomats. </s> A diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and Russia is now threatened after President Vladimir Putin ordered 755 U.S. diplomats to leave Russia. A total of 755 American diplomats will have to leave Russia as a result of Washington’s own policies, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, said on ABC’s This Week that his country’s retaliation over U.S. actions against Russia was “overdue.”

On Sunday, Putin sat with Russian television host, Vladimir Solovyov, in an exclusive interview with Rossiya 1 TV.

The Russian leader said they remained hopeful that something would change for the better.

“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.”

The Russian foreign ministry announced that Moscow told Washington to reduce the number of its diplomatic staff in Russia to 455 people. The events follow U.S. Congress’ approval of new sanctions against Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

By September of 2017, the number of United States diplomatic service staff in Russia was officially ordered to be reduced in order to equal the number of Russian diplomats in the United States.

The American diplomatic mission carries over 1,200 personnel and “greatly exceeds” the number of Russia’s embassy staff in the United States.

Once the bill becomes law, Trump will be unable to ease sanctions against Russia, according to the Washington Examiner, unless he gets congressional approval to do so.

The legislation cleared through Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support, coming in with a 98-2 vote in the Senate and 419-3 in the House.

The legislation is said to be a larger response to Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

In December, thirty-five Russian diplomats were expelled from the United States under sanctions President Barack Obama imposed over Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 election, according to CNN. The sanctions also included the closure of two Russian compounds, in Maryland and New York, used for intelligence purposes. </s> President Vladimir Putin said Russia will expel 755 U.S. diplomatic staff and could consider imposing additional measures against the United States as a response to new U.S. sanctions, although not for now.

Moscow ordered the United States on Friday to cut hundreds of diplomatic staff and said it would seize two U.S. diplomatic properties after the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate approved new sanctions on Russia.

Putin said in an interview with Vesti TV released on Sunday that 755 U.S. diplomatic and technical staff would have to leave Russia by Sept. 1.

READ MORE: Vladimir Putin says Russia will be forced to retaliate if U.S. passes new sanctions

“Because more than 1,000 workers – diplomats and support staff – were working and are still working in Russia, 755 must stop their activity in the Russian Federation,” he said.

New U.S. sanctions were in part a response to conclusions by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and to further punish Russia for its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Moscow said on Friday that the United States had until Sept. 1 to reduce its diplomatic staff in Russia to 455 people, matching the number of Russian diplomats left in the United States after Washington expelled 35 Russians in December.

WATCH: Russian Foreign Ministry releases statement advising U.S. of retaliation to sanctions

On Friday an official at the U.S. Embassy, who did not wish to be identified, said the Embassy employed around 1,100 diplomatic and support staff in Russia, including Russian and U.S. citizens.

Putin said that Russia could take more measures against the United States but not at the moment.

“I am against it as of today,” Putin said in the interview with Vesti TV.

READ MORE: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin had undisclosed second meeting at G20

He repeated that the U.S. sanctions were a step to worsening relations between the two countries.

“We were waiting for quite a long time that maybe something would change for the better, were holding out hope that the situation would change somehow. But it appears that even if it changes someday it will not change soon,” Putin said.

However, he said Moscow and Washington were achieving results on cooperation even “in this quite difficult situation.” The creation of the Southern de-escalation zone in Syria showed a concrete result of the joint work between the two countries, Putin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expels 755 U.S. diplomats in response to new sanctions imposed by the United States.