Russia orders US to cut diplomat numbers after more sanctions imposed

Moscow tells the US to reduce the number of diplomatic staff to 455 - there are believed to be currently about 1,100.

Plot the links between Trump and Putin

Russia has ordered the US to cut its number of diplomats in the country after Washington imposed more sanctions on Moscow.
The Trump administration had opposed the new financial penalties voted for by the Senate, as the President seeks warmer ties with Moscow.
And the new bill puts him in a difficult position as he will have to decide whether to accept the measures or veto them and anger his own Republican party.
There are believed to be currently around 1,100 US diplomatic staff in the country, including Russian citizens.
Moscow has told the US embassy to reduce that to 455 by 1 September.
The Russian foreign ministry said the figure was the same as the number of Russian diplomats left in the US after Washington expelled 35 Russians in December.
And it has also stopped US diplomats from using a summer house and storage facilities in Moscow.
US embassy in Moscow
The Senate backed the bill, which also imposes sanctions on Iran and North Korea, by a margin of 98-2 with strong support from Republicans as well as Democrats.
If Mr Trump chooses to veto it, the bill is expected to garner enough support in both chambers to override his veto and pass it into law. The sanctions measure has already passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 419-3.
Russia has complained the bill "showed with all clarity that relations with Russia have fallen hostage to the domestic political struggle in the US".
It warned it "reserves the right to carry out other measures that could affect the interests of the US".
The new US legislation all but dashed Mr Trump's hopes for warmer ties with Moscow as his administration is dogged by congressional and special counsel investigations into alleged Russian meddling in last year's presidential election.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied the conclusions of US intelligence agencies that Moscow interfered using cyberattacks.
The 184-page bill seeks to hit Mr Putin and the oligarchs close to him by targeting Russian corruption, human rights abusers, and crucial sectors of the Russian economy, including weapons sales and energy exports.
The North Korea sanctions are intended to thwart Pyongyang's ambition for nuclear weapons by cutting off access to the cash the reclusive nation needs to follow through with its plans.
The package also imposes mandatory penalties on people involved in Iran's ballistic missile programme and anyone who does business with them.
The measure would apply terrorism sanctions to the country's Revolutionary Guards and enforce an arms embargo.
By;Worldcoinsmoney.blogspot.com
RUSSIA, UNITED STATES.

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