Russia orders US staff out in sanctions spat
Move threatens to cast the nuclear-armed powers into a new spiral of tension
Russia ordered the US to slash hundreds of embassy and other personnel in the country in a dramatic and sweeping retaliation to the passage of a new sanctions bill in the US Congress.
The order means the US would have to cut “hundreds” of personnel at its embassy and consulates in Russia, according to a diplomat familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that aren’t yet public. US officials didn’t immediately comment on how many would be affected.
Late Thursday, the Senate voted 98-2 for a bill passed earlier by the House that strengthens existing sanctions on Russia and gives Congress the power to block President Donald Trump from lifting them. The White House has given mixed messages about whether Trump will sign the legislation at a time when his presidential campaign is under investigation over possible collusion with Moscow.
The Russian reaction was swifter and harsher than many officials had signalled. It threatened to cast the two nuclear-armed powers into a new spiral of tensions even as relations are already at their lowest point since the Cold War. For Trump, the worsening conflict poses a dilemma between his oft-stated desire to build ties with Russia and mounting congressional opposition to that effort.
Russia yesterday ordered the United States to cut hundreds of diplomatic staff in retaliation for a new round of US sanctions, and said it was seizing two US diplomatic properties.
Moscow’s decision, which had echoes of the Cold War, was announced by the Foreign Ministry a day after the US Senate overwhelmingly approved new sanctions on Russia. The bill now passes to President Donald Trump for final approval.
Russia had been threatening retaliation for weeks. Its response suggests it has set aside initial hopes of better ties with Washington under Trump, something the US leader, before he was elected, had said he wanted to achieve.
Relations were already languishing at a post-Cold War low after US intelligence agencies accused Russia of trying to meddle in last year’s US presidential election to boost Trump’s chances.
Poll meddling
The new sanctions were in part a response to the agencies’ findings that Russia did meddle in the election, and to further punish Russia for its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The Russian Foreign Ministry complained of growing anti-Russian feeling in the United States, accusing “wellknown circles” of seeking “open confrontation”.
President Vladimir Putin had warned on Thursday that Russia would have to retaliate against what he called boorish US behaviour, and Dmitry Peskov, his spokesman, told reporters yesterday that the Senate vote was the last straw.
A top White House aide said on Thursday that Trump might veto the legislation in order to push for a tougher deal. But the bill is expected to garner enough support in both chambers to override any veto.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the United States had until September 1 to reduce its diplomatic staff in Russia to 455 people, the number of Russian diplomats left in the United States after Washington expelled 35 Russians in December. It was not immediately clear how many US diplomats and other workers would be forced to leave either the country or their posts, but the Interfax news agency cited an informed source as saying “hundreds” of people would be affected. A diplomatic source told Reuters that it would be for US to decide which posts to cut, whether occupied by US or Russian nationals.