U.S. deciding on response to loss of access to property in Moscow, personnel cuts - embassy
MOSCOW. Aug 2 (Interfax) - The United States is considering possible options in response to the Russian demand on cutting the personnel of its diplomatic establishments and stopping the use of a dacha in Serebryany Bor and a warehouse in Dorozhnaya Street in Moscow, but there is yet no decision to be announced, Maria Olson, a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy to Russia, said.
"We are reviewing our options and possible next steps. We have no decisions to announce now on how we will respond to this Russian action," Olson told Interfax on Wednesday.
On July 28, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced its response to the passing of the bill on anti-Russian sanctions in the U.S. Congress and to the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats from U.S. last December. The number of personnel at U.S. diplomatic and consular establishments should be reduced to 455 people, and the Russian side will suspend access to a U.S. dacha in Serebryany Bor and a warehouse in Dorozhnaya Street.