US begins Russia drawdown after Kremlin retaliates for sanctions

The United States began removing furniture and equipment from a diplomatic property in Moscow on Tuesday in the first sign of compliance with a Kremlin order to slash its presence in Russia as retaliation for new US sanctions. President Vladimir Putin has ordered the United States to cut around 60% of its diplomatic staff in Russia by September 1, and said Moscow will seize two US diplomatic properties in response to sanctions approved by Congress last week. The White House has said US President Donald Trump will sign the sanctions bill, meant as a response to alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and to further punish Moscow for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. On Tuesday, removal men began dismantling play equipment and barbecues at a US-owned dacha (country villa) on the outskirts of Moscow, after being refused access the day before, according to a Reuters journalist at the scene. The dacha, which is being confiscated along with a US warehouse in the south of the Russian capital, was used by US diplomatic staff at the weekends and to host parties for students, journalists and other diplomats. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said US staff had to leave the dacha and warehouse by midday on Tuesday, TASS news agency reported. Ryabkov and the Kremlin said no one had obstructed US employees trying to access the property.