President Vladimir Putin has said that 755 US diplomats must leave Russia and threatened that ties with Washington could be gridlocked for a long time

Putin said that More than a thousand people were working and are still working at the US embassy and consulate during an interview with Rossia-24 television

President Vladimir Putin has said that 755 US diplomats must leave Russia and threatened that ties with Washington could be gridlocked for a long time. This happened on Sunday following tough new American sanctions.

The Russian foreign ministry had earlier demanded Washington cut its diplomatic presence in Russia by September to 455 which is the same number Moscow has in the US.

Putin said that More than a thousand people were working and are still working at the US embassy and consulate during an interview with Rossia-24 television.

“755 people must stop their activities in Russia,” he said.

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\Putin added that an upturn in Russia’s relations with Washington could not be expected “any time soon”.

He said that Russia have waited long enough, hoping that the situation would perhaps change for the better but that that even if the situation is changing, it’s not for any time soon.

On Thursday, the US Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill to toughen sanctions on Russia for allegedly meddling in 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.

Moscow 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.

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.

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