Putin says U.S. must cut 755 diplomatic staff, more measures possible

[webfact]

Putin says U.S. must cut 755 diplomatic staff, more measures possible

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 30, 2017. REUTERS/Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool

 

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said the United States would have to cut its diplomatic staff in Russia by 755 people and that Russia could consider imposing additional measures against the United States as a response to new U.S. sanctions approved by Congress.

 

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. The White House said on Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump would sign the sanctions bill.

 

Putin said in an interview with Vesti TV released on Sunday that the United States would have to cut its diplomatic and technical staff by 755 people by Sept. 1.

 

"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.

 

The new U.S. sanctions were partly a response to conclusions by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and to punish Russia further for its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Moscow has denied interfering in the U.S. election.

 

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.

 

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

 

The State Department declined to comment on the exact number of embassy and consular staff in Russia.

 

As of 2013, the U.S. mission in Russia, including the Moscow embassy and consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok, employed 1,279 staff, according to a State Department Inspector General's report that year. That included 934 "locally employed" staff and 301 U.S. "direct-hire" staff, from 35 U.S. government agencies, the report said.

 

VISA WAIT TIMES

 

That breakdown suggested the actual number of Americans forced to leave Russia would be far less than 755.

 

"We dont (sic) have 755 American diplomats in Russia," said Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, in a post on Twitter on Sunday.

 

The cuts would likely affect how quickly the United States is able to process Russian applications for U.S. visas, McFaul said.

 

"If these cuts are real, Russians should expect to wait weeks if not months to get visas to come to U.S.," he said.

 

Putin said 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.

 

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.

 

He said Moscow and Washington were achieving results on cooperation, however, 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.

 

(Reporting by Polina Devitt in Moscow and Yeganeh Torbati in Washington; Editing by Susan Fenton and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-31

[ChrisY1]

A sterling job again by the US....8 months of lunacy and no signs of a let-up

[ilostmypassword]

36 minutes ago, ChrisY1 said:

A sterling job again by the US....8 months of lunacy and no signs of a let-up

In this case the responsibility belongs to Congress. But, Congress is in a tough position. They obviously can't trust Trump to uphold the sanctions. So, if they did nothing, there was a very clear risk, if not likelihood, of Trump relaxing the current regime. On the other hand, Congress didn't do the sanctions regime any favors by antagonizing the EU.

[craigt3365]

21 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

In this case the responsibility belongs to Congress. But, Congress is in a tough position. They obviously can't trust Trump to uphold the sanctions. So, if they did nothing, there was a very clear risk, if not likelihood, of Trump relaxing the current regime. On the other hand, Congress didn't do the sanctions regime any favors by antagonizing the EU.

From what I've read, not all are unhappy with the new sanctions.  The new gas pipeline will bypass Ukraine and deprive it of desperately needed funds. 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/world/europe/eu-uneasy-about-impact-of-new-us-sanctions-on-russia.html

Quote

But as usual, the 28-nation bloc is divided, with central European countries more willing to limit the bloc’s dependence on Russian oil and gas.

 

[connda]

Lol.  They'll have to let go of the janitorial staff.  Unfortunately the spooks under diplomatic cover will have to pick up a cleaning shift in addition to their normal duties.  

[maewang99]

Five To Rule Them All, David L. Bosco.

it's a global stage. we can't vote for other leaders, of course, but that's not our biggest privilege.  

and I cite Bosco's book because world opinion has always been important, and has grown much more important. so yeah, we ****also**** can't get past any of the 5 vetoes either.. but Bosco points out it was what happened in hallways and meeting rooms that really has shaped events... not so much only Security Council Resolutions.. but other stuff....

score this as another Putin win. why I don't know... it just feels like that. I guess because of the scale he has immediately taken this to. another in your face for Mr. Trump. from Russia with love.

Trump's election itself was another recent one.

see why I elected him? I can play him like a charm. but Hillary!!!!! oh no!!!!

but the best one was John McCain's big thumb. big.

Trump is supposed to be the Big Daddy of them all. 

that's his narrative. that's his base's narrative. if he loses that... or if he has already..... we will see it all playing out to the finale even faster than it has already been going. that will be the signal.

the problem is.. Big Daddy has the nuke codes. and he also has a veto.  and the Debt Limit thing he could hang on Congress. and that means... bye bye US dollah... for a very very long time.  a real Hamburger Crisis.. a Supersized Big Mac with 6 cans of Diet Coke.... already opened.


 

Edited July 31, 2017 by maewang99

[Dave67]

2 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

A sterling job again by the US....8 months of lunacy and no signs of a let-up

I see the "like" feature has gone missing. If it's any compensation I would have "Liked" your comment

[Rancid]

I seem to be getting deja vu, is the Cold War back on again? Last time it was against a nasty communist regime so could understand that, this time against another democracy over nothing, hard to see any justification apart from weapons sales.

[vandv]

there are a lot of old dinosaurs in washington with a cold war mentality still

[craigt3365]

16 minutes ago, Rancid said:

I seem to be getting deja vu, is the Cold War back on again? Last time it was against a nasty communist regime so could understand that, this time against another democracy over nothing, hard to see any justification apart from weapons sales.

Russia is hardly a democracy. LOL

 

6 minutes ago, vandv said:

there are a lot of old dinosaurs in washington with a cold war mentality still

Lots of old dinosaurs in Moscow also.  Like Putin, ex-KGB and all....

[heybruce]

Russia's retaliation for the new US sanctions is to require the US to reduce the number of locally hired staff in Russia and make it more difficult for its citizens to get visas to travel to the US.

 

This strikes me as a frustration move--they have to appear to do something, but there isn't much they can do.  Well, they could reign in their state sponsored cyber criminals and pull their troops out of neighboring countries, but they aren't going to do that.

 

Too bad for Donald; there are Russian oligarchs with hundreds of billions of assets they want to move out of Russia (they don't trust their own government).  The Trumps could have made billions selling these criminals property in the 'discreet' manner that a family owned business can manage, but only if the financial sanctions were lifted.   Oh well, the Trumps are profiting from the presidency in other ways.

[dunroaming]

It does seem like the Russians and the Chinese are playing Trump.  Putin can certainly run rings around him and the Chinese hold all the cards when it comes to NK.

[Jingthing]

6 hours ago, Rancid said:

I seem to be getting deja vu, is the Cold War back on again? Last time it was against a nasty communist regime so could understand that, this time against another democracy over nothing, hard to see any justification apart from weapons sales.

You lost all credibility calling Russia a democracy. 

[Foozool]

"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."

 

sorry, even Trump can not help. Where he is standing is too hot at this time. 

[Jingthing]

If this is a new cold war, maybe it should be, and the USA needs to win it. Currently the wrong leader to do that though. Putin has played a weak hand (Russia) brilliantly. Time to push back on that. 

[Srikcir]

7 hours ago, Rancid said:

this time against another democracy

Russia is an oligarchy, not a democracy.

 

7 hours ago, Rancid said:

over nothing

Hardly, but only if you believe Putin propaganda.

In fact even Trump and the Republican Congress criticized Obama for not taking greater action against Russia if its interference in the American 2016 election was believed.

 

[Luckysilk]

2 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Russia is an oligarchy, not a democracy.

 

Hardly, but only if you believe Putin propaganda.

In fact even Trump and the Republican Congress criticized Obama for not taking greater action against Russia if its interference in the American 2016 election was believed.

 

Didn't Jimmy Carter say the USA was now an oligarchy ?

[Jingthing]

52 minutes ago, Luckysilk said:

Didn't Jimmy Carter say the USA was now an oligarchy ?

He did.

Actually the USA is a FLAWED democracy.

Russia isn't one at all. 

Edited July 31, 2017 by Jingthing