Putin: Russia-US relations will not change anytime soon
For the longest time, Russia had hoped for positive changes in relations with the US, before introducing new measures against Washington, stated Russian President Vladimir Putin, Vesti.Ru reports.
"We waited for quite some time that maybe something will change for the better, had such hope that the situation will somehow change. However, judging by everything, if it changes, it will not be soon," the Russian leader said.
Putin noted that he considered it necessary to show that Russia "will no longer leave anything unanswered."
Russia has already taken retaliatory measures, requiring a massive reduction in the number of American diplomats before September 1 to equalize their number with the number of Russian diplomats in the United States. This was done in response to the US Congress approval of new sanctions against the Russian Federation.
755 US diplomats will now have to leave Russia as part of the framework of new measures against the US.