In response to new US sanctions against Russia, which overwhelmingly got through the Senate (98-2) and the House of Representatives (419-3) and now sits on the President’s desk, Russia has decided to expel some of the US diplomats from the country. It was quite a delayed response from the Russian side, given that President Obama expelled some 35 Russian diplomats from the country and seized two diplomatic compounds in response to Russia’s alleged hacking of the 2016 election. However, President Vladimir Putin then declined to respond to Obama’s action as a gesture of goodwill to his then-incoming US counterpart, Donald Trump. But as it became clear that President Trump will not be able to keep his election promises of restoring full-fledged relations with Russia, largely due to the strong opposition of political establishment and US intelligence services, Russia has taken up this action. While the Trump administration has been successful in improving relations, the US government didn’t return the seized diplomatic compounds despite several requests from Russia. Instead, the Trump administration remains dogged by allegations of colluding with Russia during 2016 election.

The foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday that it would compel the US to limit its personnel in the Moscow embassy and its consulates in St Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, and Vladivostok to 455 people, the same as the number of Russian diplomats currently active in the US. The embassy will also be unable to use a storage compound and a summer house in Moscow. The deadline to comply is September 1, which is quite a large timeline considering Barrack Obama’s timeline of just days.

Here is the full statement from the Russian foreign ministry,

“On July 27, the US Congress passed a new bill on tougher anti-Russia sanctions. This measure is further proof of the Unites States’ extremely hostile foreign policy. Hiding behind its sense of superiority, the United States arrogantly ignores the stances and interests of other countries.

It is common knowledge that the Russian Federation has been doing everything in its power to improve bilateral relations, to encourage ties and cooperation with the US on the most pressing issues on the international agenda including fighting terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, illegal drug trafficking, illegal migration, cybercrime, etc. Our understanding has been that we can only solve these global problems if we work together. We believe the majority of people in the world share this approach.

Meanwhile, the United States is using Russia’s alleged interference in its domestic affairs as an absolutely contrived excuse for its persevering and crude campaigns against Russia. This activity contradicts the principles of international law, the UN Charter, WTO regulations and, simply, the standards of civilised international communication.

The United States continues to pass more unlawful sanctions against Russia, to seize Russia’s diplomatic property, which is formalised in binding bilateral documents, and to deport Russian diplomats. This is clearly a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and generally recognised diplomatic practices.

The adoption of the new sanctions bill is an obvious indication that relations with Russia are being dragged down by political infighting in the United States. Moreover, the new bill uses political means to create a dishonest competitive advantage for the US in the global economy. This blackmail aimed at restricting Russia’s cooperation with its foreign partners threatens many countries and international businesses.

Despite Washington’s constant outbursts, we have adhered to responsible and reserved behaviour and have not responded to express provocations until now. However, the latest events confirm that certain circles in the US are fixated on Russophobia and open confrontation with our country.

- Therefore, we request that our American counterparts bring the number of diplomatic and technical staff at the US Embassy in Moscow, the consulates general in St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok, into strict correspondence with the number of Russian diplomats and technical staff currently working in the United States, until September 1, 2017. This means that the total number of American diplomatic and consular office employees in the Russian Federation must be reduced to 455 people. In the event of further unilateral action on behalf of US officials to reduce the Russian diplomatic mission in the US, we will respond accordingly.

- Starting August 1, the use of all the storage facilities on Dorozhnaya Street in Moscow and the country house in Serebryany Bor will be suspended from use by the US Embassy.

Russia reserves the right to resort to other measures affecting US’ interests on a retaliatory basis.”