Moscow MOVE OUT: US diplomats pack up to leave Russia after Putin EXPELS them in Trump row

Vladimir Putin has ordered the US to cut around 60 per cent of its diplomatic staff – 755 personnel – in Russia who must leave the country by September 1.

Moscow also intends to seize two US diplomatic properties in response to sanctions approved by Congress last week.

The White House has said 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.

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.

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.

The removal men said they arrived at around 7am (local time) and were seen packing furniture, including beds and lamps, into three white removal vans before leaving the property three hours later.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said US staff had to leave the dacha and warehouse by midday on Tuesday.

Mr Ryabkov and the Kremlin said no one had obstructed US employees trying to access the property.

Mr Putin said on Sunday Russia had ordered the United States to cut 755 of its 1,200 diplomatic staff in its embassy and consular operations, though many of those let go will be Russian citizens, with the United States allowed to choose who leaves.

One person at the embassy said staff there were feeling depressed and despondent as they came to terms with the Kremlin’s order.

The source said: ”The mood in the office is very pessimistic. Everyone is just loitering, or sitting on job websites looking for a new job.”

Many of those staff let go under the ruling by the Kremlin will be Russian citizens in a move that is increasingly being seen as a way of making Mr Putin appear to be tough-talking but is carefully designed not to affect US investment in the country as well as avoiding a diplomatic row between the two countries.

The measures were announced after the US Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions to respond to Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and to punish Russia further for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

The White House said on Friday that Trump would sign the sanctions bill.

Speaking to troops in Tallinn, Estonia, US Vice President Mike Pence called Russia’s actions “drastic” but said Washington would continue with its sanctions until Moscow stopped its “destabilising activities in Ukraine and elsewhere”.

Mr Trump did not comment on the expulsions on Monday.

Whitehouse spokeswoman Sarah Sander said: “Right now, we’re reviewing our options, and when we have something to say, we’ll let you know.”