Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hoped there would not be a need for further retaliation against Washington after his government ordered the US to slash staff at its diplomatic missions in Russia by 755, or nearly two-thirds, in retaliation for new sanctions approved by the US Congress.
“We waited for a rather long time, thinking that things might improve, nourished the hope that the situation would change somehow,” Putin said in an interview with state television broadcast on Sunday, his first comments on the issue since the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the move on Friday. “But by all indications, if it does change, it won’t be soon.”
Putin said Russia would refrain from taking further steps for now.
Photo: AFP
“If the time comes, we can consider other options for responding. But I hope it doesn’t come to that. As of today, I’m against it,” he said.
Russia’s move marks a new stage in the Kremlin’s deepening disillusionment with US President Donald Trump, who campaigned on pledges to improve ties, but has failed to deliver, amid spiraling investigations in Washington into alleged meddling by Moscow in last year’s US elections.
The US Department of State condemned the Russian action as “regrettable and uncalled for,” and said that it was assessing its response, the Associated Press reported.
The mission at the Moscow embassy and three consulates in other cities employs 1,279 staff, including 301 US direct-hire positions and 934 locally employed posts from 35 US government agencies, according to a 2013 State Department report.
The Russian move would lower the total staff to 455 — the same number Russia has in the US. Only diplomats will be forced to leave the country, while Russian nationals affected by the cuts will lose their jobs.
Russia’s decision came soon after the US Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill, already approved by the US House of Representatives, that would prevent the president from easing sanctions without getting congressional approval, as well as open the way to even wider restrictions than the ones currently imposed over the Ukraine crisis. Trump has not signed the legislation, but the White House said he plans to.
Russia said it was responding to the US expulsion in December last year of 35 Russian diplomats in response to alleged hacking of the election. Putin had put off answering that move, giving the new administration a chance to deliver on its promises of better relations.
Earlier on Sunday, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Ryabkov warned the US against retaliating for Russia’s latest action.
“If the US side decides to move further towards further deterioration, we will answer, we will respond in kind,” Ryabkov said on ABC television’s This Week.
Asked if Russia is considering measures such as banning US consumer goods, Ryabkov declined to provide specifics, but said “we have a rich toolbox at our disposal.”
Putin said that while Russia has a range of possible options “that would be sensitive for the American side, I don’t think we should do that. It would hurt the development of international relations.”
The Russian order is likely to mean consular services in Russia will be “very hard hit,” Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Moscow said in an e-mail. “Russians will have to wait much longer to get a visa,” he said by e-mail.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese