Over 700 officials of U.S. diplomatic missions to leave Russia - media
MOSCOW. July 28 (Interfax) - The countermeasures regarding the U.S. establishments in Russia announced by Moscow on Friday will require that the United States reduce the number of its officials by more than 700 people, Kommersant said with reference to diplomatic sources in Moscow.
"The U.S. Department of State will have to cut the number of employees of their embassy in Moscow and the consulates general in Russia by more than 700 people," it said.
In planning its countermeasures against the U.S., Moscow presumed that "the U.S. had been warned of all measures prepared in advance, which concerns both the restrictions on immovable property and the equalization of the number of diplomatic officials," the newspaper said.
"Washington had known about this but preferred to allow this scenario to unfold, even though it could have preempted it," a Russian Foreign Ministry source told Kommersant.
After Moscow announced its measures with regard to U.S. establishments earlier on Friday, a knowledgeable source told Interfax that Russia's decision would prompt several hundred employees of U.S. diplomatic missions to leave the country.