REAL VLAD HOMBRE
Boots 755 from U.S. diplo posts in Russia Revenge even before Trump OKs sanctions
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin on Sunday announced that he will slash 755 U.S. diplomat positions in his country, making good on his threats for revenge against the U.S. over a pending new bill imposing sanctions.
The stunning cutbacks will leave only a few hundred American workers left in Russia as the two nations see their tensions mounting and diplomacy deteriorating.
Speaking on Russia’s staterun television, Putin said he had lost patience waiting to see if relations with the U.S. could be mended.
“We waited for quite some time that maybe something will change for the better, had such hope that the situation will somehow change,” he said on the Rossiya 1 network.
“But judging by everything, if it changes, it will not be soon.”
The Kremlin initially announced the cuts Friday, saying it would reduce its U.S. diplomatic staff by Sept. 1 to 455 — the same number of Russian diplomats working in America.
But until Putin’s statement, it was unclear how many Americans would be pushed out by that decision.
The drastic cuts are bound to hit American government officials as well as technical workers, translators and support staff. Putin did not detail which jobs will disappear.
The State Department on Sunday called the move “a regrettable and uncalled for act.”
Putin’s rebuke is retaliation for Congress last week passing a bill imposing sanctions on Russia for its interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Just hours before Putin’s announcement, one of his officials warned the U.S. would soon face a “long, long overdue” punishment.
“If the U.S. side decides to move further towards further deterioration, we will answer,” Dep-
uty Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on ABC News’ “This Week.”
“We will respond in kind. We will mirror this. We will retaliate.”
When asked if the Kremlin had any other penalties planned — such as sanctions or trade bans — Ryabkov wouldn’t say anything is off limits.
“We have a very rich toolbox at our disposal,” he said.
“We are not gamblers. We’re people who consider things very seriously and very responsibly. But 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.”
Ryabkov called the sanctions bill “a completely weird and unacceptable piece of legislation,” and said it was “the last drop” before Russia decided to take action against the U.S.
Both houses of Congress passed the bill — which also slaps sanctions on Iran and North Korea — with nearly unanimous bipartisan support last week.
With the Senate voting 98 to 2, and the House voting 419 to 3, it is one of the few bills to bring both parties together in a Congress that has stagnated on many major actions under President Trump.
The legislation includes a provision limiting Trump’s authority to lift the sanctions.
Trump pushed back on initial efforts to pass the bill, but the White House said Friday that he “approves the bill and intends to sign it.”
A veto would be overturned by Congress because the bill passed with such strong support — and further embarrass Trump.
Former President Barack Obama leveled sanctions against Russia in December 2016 for its cybercampaign to compromise the presidential election. Under Trump, the U.S. has put sanctions on Russia in reaction to the Kremlin’s aggressive military actions in Ukraine.
But even with his anticipated signing of the bill, Trump has refused to publicly condemn Russia for the election hacks, and he has publicly doubted the consensus from the U.S. intelligence community that the Kremlin interfered in the vote to help him win.
Trump claimed he pressed Putin about the hacks when they met at the G-20 summit in Germany on July 7. He said Putin denied any wrongdoing, and Trump took him at his word.
The Trump campaign is under federal investigation for potential collusion with the Kremlin, and several congressional committees are inspecting the election meddling.
The congressional probes have recently focused on a secret meeting held at Trump Tower last year between three Trump campaign representatives and a Russian lawyer who promised damaging information on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
On “This Week,” Ryabkov sidestepped a direct question about whether Russia provided the Trump campaign with dirt about Clinton.
“All the information which we provide to anyone can be easily found in open sources,” he said.
“We are not doing anything to the detriment of the domestic developments or internal affairs of any country, the U.S. included.”
If the U.S. side decides to move further towards further deterioration, we will answer. We will respond in kind. We will mirror this. We will retaliate. Sergei Ryabkov (below), Russian deputy foreign minister