The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has ordered the expulsion of 755 US diplomats in retaliation against the new sanctions imposed by the United States. 

While the decision to expel diplomatic staff from US missions was made on Friday, President Putin, on Sunday, confirmed the number who must leave Russia by September 1. 

In a statement to the Russian media, he said, he did not want to impose more measures, but he could not see ties changing “anytime soon”.

The expelled staff also includes Russian employees of the US diplomatic missions across Russia, reports stated. 

The new sanctions imposed by the United States were in retaliation to both Russia’s annexation of Crimea and Russian interference in the US elections. 

In December last year, the Obama administration had ordered the seizure of two Russian diplomatic compounds and expelled 35 Russian diplomats in response to alleged hacking of the US Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.