Russia will force the US diplomatic mission in the country to eliminate hundreds of people from its workforce by September 1, President Vladimir Putin told state TV in an interview that aired on Sunday.
"More than 1,000 workers — diplomats and support staff — were working and are still working in Russia; 755 must stop their activity in the Russian Federation," Putin said, per Reuters. This does not mean, as early news reports suggested, that 755 US diplomats will be expelled from the country entirely — but it is a serious cut to America’s diplomatic presence in Russia.
The order is retaliation, plain and simple. On Thursday night, Congress overwhelmingly passed a new package of sanctions on Russia as punishment for the nation’s interference in the US election. Late on Friday, the Trump administration announced its intention to sign the sanctions bill into law. The diplomatic staffing order is Putin showing he hasn’t been cowed.
This is very much not normal; countries do not generally force other countries to limit their diplomatic presence so sharply, absent a major crisis in relations. It suggests instead that the pro-Russian stance Trump has taken, at least rhetorically, is not paying off — and that US-Russia relations are likely to keep getting worse for the foreseeable future.
I don't know about anybody else but I think we should have pulled these diplomats and their staffs out on our own after what Russia did during our last election, and drastically curtailed travel to and from that country except for humanitarian reasons.
What Russia did is an act of war.
And we should deal with it accordingly.
Let's face it Russia needs us WAY more than we need them. And Putin knows it.
I say we call his bluff and bring these people home and start treating Russia as an enemy of the state just like we would any terrorist organization that had hacked our government computers or detonated an explosive that took American lives.
(Disclaimer: I, in no way, have any hard feelings against the Russian people. I have had Russians as friends various times in my life. My anger and resentment is only directed at Vladimir Putin and the oligarchs that support him.)
Source http://ift.tt/2wcASKK
