By Andrew Roth
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that the US diplomatic missions in Moscow and elsewhere in the country will have to reduce their staffs by 755 people.
In an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel, Putin said that the number of American diplomatic and technical personnel will be capped at 455 - equivalent to the number of their Russian counterparts working in the United States.
The Kremlin said, as the Senate voted to strengthen sanctions on Russia, that some American diplomats would be expelled, but the size of the reduction is dramatic. It covers the main embassy in Moscow, as well as missions in St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok.
The Russian government is also seizing two diplomatic properties - a dacha, or country house, in a leafy neighbourhood in Moscow, and a warehouse - following the decision by the Obama administration in December to take possession of two Russian mansions in the United States.
