Putin to order 755 U.S diplomats out of Russia in a retaliatory sanction

Russian President Vladimir Putin © Sergey Guneev / Sputnik

More than 750 American diplomats will have to leave Russia as a result of Washington's own policies, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in an exclusive interview with the Rossiya 1 TV channel.

"The American side has made a move which, it is important to note, hasn't been provoked by anything, to worsen Russian-US relations. [It includes] unlawful restrictions, attempts to influence other states of the world, including our allies, who are interested in developing and keeping relations with Russia," Putin told channel host, Vladimir Solovyov, Sunday.

"We've been waiting for quite a long time that maybe something would change for the better, we had hopes that the situation would change. But it looks like, it's not going to change in the near future... I decided that it is time for us to show that we will not leave anything unanswered," the Russian president added.

Earlier this week, following the US Congress' approval of new sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea, the Russian foreign ministry announced that Moscow told Washington to reduce the number of its diplomatic staff in Russia to 455 people.

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