Russia Seizes 2 U.S. Properties and Orders Embassy to Cut Staff

Russia Seizes 2 U.S. Properties and Orders Embassy to Cut Staff
Referring to the vote by Congress to toughen the sanctions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “This
yet again attests to the extreme aggressiveness of the United States when it comes to international affairs.”
Dmitri S. Peskov, the spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin, said the Russian leader had approved the retaliatory measures despite saying a day earlier
that he would wait for the final version of the law before taking any such steps.
The statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry said
that the United States Embassy was asked to reduce its diplomatic and technical staff members in Russia to 455 by Sept. 1, matching the number of Russian diplomats in the United States.
By NEIL MacFARQUHARJULY 28, 2017
MOSCOW — Russia took its first steps on Friday to retaliate against proposed American sanctions for Moscow’s suspected meddling in the 2016 election, seizing two American diplomatic properties
and ordering the United States Embassy to reduce staff by September.
The version that emerged from the Senate vote late Thursday seemed to be the final one, Mr. Peskov noted, and the White House has already suggested
that it might reject this law in favor of something even more onerous.
In December, President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats
and seized two estates, one on Long Island, N. Y., and one on Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, in response to Russia’s meddling in the United States presidential election