Russia retaliates new American sanctions, asks 755 US diplomats to leave country

The ties between America and Russia on Sunday hit a new low when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that 755 of US diplomats must leave his country in retaliation for new sanctions from Washington.

Putting an end to speculations of improved ties under Donald Trump’s regime Russian President said nothing such will happen "anytime soon."

“We have waited long enough, hoping that the situation would perhaps change for the better,” Putin said.

“But it seems that even if the situation is changing, it’s not for any time soon,” he added.

"More than a thousand people were working and are still working" at the US embassy and consulates, Putin said in an interview with Rossia-24 television. "755 people must stop their activities in Russia."

Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday ordered the US to slash its number of diplomats in Russia to 455 and froze two embassy compounds— a Moscow summer house and a storage facility in the city— from August 1.

The Russian move is being seen as a retaliatory move after the US senate on Thursday approved a bill to toughen sanctions on Russia for allegedly hacking into the 2016 US presidential election and for its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Iran and North Korea are also targeted in the sanctions bill.

The law now goes to President Donald Trump who had made an improvement in ties with Russia a plank of his election campaign.

In December, the then US president Barack Obama ordered out 35 Russian diplomats and closed down two embassy summer houses that Washington said were being used by Moscow for espionage.

(With PTI Inputs)