MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the ministry, Lavrov stressed that the decision to equalize the number of employees of US and Russian diplomatic missions, as well as to close access to two US Embassy facilities in Moscow, is caused by a series of hostile moves by Washington.
"Such actions included illegal sanctions against Russia, slanderous accusations against Moscow, mass expulsion of Russian diplomats and expropriation of our diplomatic property [in the US],"the ministry said in a statement.
"Sergei Lavrov reaffirmed that our country is still ready to normalize bilateral relations with the US and cooperate on the most important issues on the international agenda, but this could be possible only on the basis of equality, mutual respect and a balance of interests," the ministry said in a statement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry suspended the use of all US Embassy warehouses and its compound in Moscow and also offered the US to cut down the number of its diplomatic staff in Russia to 455 people by September 1. Moreover, the ministry said that it reserves the reciprocal right to hit US interests in response to the US sanctions bill.
On Thursday, US Senate approved a bill that would impose sweeping sanctions on Russia and seeks, in particular, to target companies that invest in Russian energy projects. The bill now has to be either signed or vetoed by US President Donald Trump.
Back in December, Putin decided not to respond to sanctions imposed by the outgoing US administration and act in accordance with the ties built with the new US leadership. However, since then, the diplomatic property hasn't been returned. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that Moscow would take retaliatory measures against Washington if the situation with Russia's diplomatic property in the United States was not resolved.
