Moscow retaliates against proposed U.S. sanctions
Russia seizes two U.S. properties; orders embassy to cut staff
MOSCOW — Russia took its first steps Friday to retaliate against proposed U.S. sanctions for Moscow’s suspected meddling in the 2016 election, seizing two U.S. diplomatic properties in Russia and ordering the U.S. Embassy to reduce staff by September.
The moves, which had been threatened for weeks, came a day after the U.S. Senate approved a measure to expand economic sanctions against Russia, as well as against Iran and North Korea. The bill, mirroring one passed by the House on Tuesday, now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature. The White House said Friday that the president intends to sign the bill.
The latest move by the Kremlin strikes another blow against the already dismal diplomatic relations between the two sides, with each new step moving Moscow and Washington further from the rapprochement anticipated a few months ago.
“Russia’s response to the new sanctions was inevitable,” Alexei Pushkov, a Russian legislator and frequent commentator on international affairs, wrote Friday on Twitter. “There is a high probability that this will not be the end of it.”
Starting on Tuesday, Russia will block access to a warehouse in Moscow used by the U.S. Embassy and to a bucolic site along the Moscow River where staff members walk their dogs and hold barbecues.
The number of U.S. targets inside Russia for Kremlin retaliation is limited, particularly if Moscow is worried about damaging the investment climate or about other economic fallout.
Referring to the vote by Congress to toughen the sanctions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “This yet again attests to the extreme aggressiveness of the United States when it comes to international affairs.”
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, said the Russian leader had approved the retaliatory measures.
“The White House said that the bill could be toughened, so it doesn’t change the essence of the situation,” Peskov said.
It is unclear whether Trump will sign the legislation. But given the congressional investigations into possible collusion between his campaign and the Kremlin, and considering that the Republican Party has majorities in the House and the Senate, he is under considerable pressure not to use his veto.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued a short statement confirming only that it had received the notification from the Foreign Ministry and that it was sending the orders to Washington for review.
The statement from the Foreign Ministry said that the U.S. Embassy was asked to reduce its diplomatic and technical staff members in Russia to 455 people by Sept. 1, matching the number of Russian diplomats in the United States. In addition to the embassy in Moscow, the United States has consulates in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg.
It was not immediately clear how many U.S. workers would have to leave, because the Kremlin’s announcement did not detail which employees were to be included in the count.
In December, President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats and seized two estates, one on Long Island, N.Y., and one on Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, in response to Russia’s interference in the U.S. presidential election the month before.
The announcement from Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that if the United States responded to the latest measure with any further expulsions, Russia would match them.
The new law would strengthen sanctions first directed against Russia in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea and the destabilizing of Ukraine. European countries have expressed concern about the law’s potential impact on the energy market on the Continent, because it might affect the expansion of the Nord Stream pipeline that carries Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.