Russia Says New U.S. Sanctions Forced It to Respond<br />Mr. Peskov said it was up to the Americans to decide how to reduce their staff to 455, matching the size of Russia’s<br />diplomatic staff in the United States, including those at the Russian Mission to the United Nations in New York.<br />By NEIL MacFARQUHARJULY 31, 2017<br />MOSCOW — Even as it sought to punish the United States for imposing new sanctions by forcing the mass dismissal of employees from<br />American diplomatic posts in Russia, the Kremlin left the door open on Monday for President Trump to avoid further escalation.<br />In response to Russian hacking of the American election, President Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats in late December, giving them 72 hours to leave the country,<br />and he ordered the seizure of two diplomatic country estates, which the United States said had been used for espionage as well as for recreation.<br />Mr. Trump had talked during his campaign of improving ties with Russia<br />and had praised Mr. Putin, and the Kremlin had expected the face-to-face meeting of the presidents to mark the start of a new era.<br />Mr. Putin has denied any Russian interference in the American election, saying<br />that anti-Russian sentiment in the United States was being used as a weapon in an internal political battle.<br />A State Department inspector general’s report in 2013, the last concrete numbers publicly available, said there were<br />934 "locally employed" staff members at the Moscow Embassy and three consulates, out of a total staff of 1,279.<br />United States said that I look at who has a green paper in their hands and that means they got a no.
