President Vladimir V. Putin on Sunday in St. Petersburg. Credit Olga Maltseva/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
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MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin announced on Sunday that the number of workers at American diplomatic posts in Russia would be cut by 755 by Sept. 1, escalating the tensions between Washington and Moscow.
Although the reduction had been announced on Friday, in response to the new law passed in Congress last week expanding sanctions against Russia, the president’s statement was the first to confirm the large number of embassy personnel involved.
Speaking in a television interview on the Rossiya 1 network, Mr. Putin said that Russia’s patience in waiting for improved relations with the United States had worn out.
“We waited for quite some time that maybe something will change for the better, had such hope that the situation will somehow change, but, judging by everything, if it changes, it will not be soon,” Mr. Putin said in the interview, according to Interfax news agency.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/30/world/europe/russia-sanctions-us-diplomats-expelled.html?emc=edit_na_20170730&nl=breaking-news&nlid=49769097&ref=headline