Russia seizes American property

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The Independent

Russia seizes American property in Moscow and cuts US diplomatic staff in retaliation to fresh sanctions
Embassy staff must leave the country by 1 September

Tom Batchelor @_tombatchelor 2 hours ago58 comments




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The Independent Online
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The number of American diplomats in Russia will fall to 455 under the plan Reuters
Russia has ordered America to cut the number of diplomatic staff it has in the country and has seized a dacha compound and warehouse used by US officials in retaliation for new sanctions against Moscow.

Embassy staff must leave the country by 1 September, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, in a move triggered by the US Senate’s near unanimous vote to slap new sanctions on Russia, further hurting its fragile economy.

The move puts Donald Trump in a tough position by forcing him to take a hard line on Moscow or block the legislation and anger his own Republican Party.


READ MORE
US senators vote overwhelmingly for new sanctions on Russia
Russia’s Foreign Ministry also accused Washington of “extreme aggression in international affairs”.

The US embassy's recreational retreat on the outskirts of Moscow will be closed as well as warehouse facilities.

The number of American diplomats will fall to 455 under the plan, the Foreign Ministry added. It was not immediately clear how many US diplomats now serve in Russia.

Relations between Russia and the United States dropped to a post-Cold War low following Russia's annexation of Crimea and interference in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Reports of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election have dampened hopes for better ties that the Kremlin pinned on Mr Trump's presidency.

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Russian policemen stand guard in front of the US Embassy in Moscow (Getty)
The new package of sanctions aims to hit Vladimir Putin and his inner circle by targeting alleged corrupt officials, human rights abusers and crucial sectors of the Russian economy, including weapons sales and energy exports.

The bill underwent revisions to address concerns voiced by American oil and natural gas companies that sanctions specific to Russia's energy sector could backfire on them.

Russia's Foreign Ministry dismissed the new sanctions as "creating unfair competitive advantages for the US economy”.


READ MORE
White House sanctions Russia over election hacking
"This kind of blackmail aimed at restricting the cooperation between Russia and other nations is a threat for many countries and global businesses," the statement said.

Russia's response mirrors moves by outgoing President Barack Obama last December to expel 35 Russian diplomats and shut down two Russian estates in the US.

Moscow said it would cut the US diplomatic corps even further if the U.S. decides to expel more Russian diplomats.

The Kremlin had previously said that it would not impose any sanctions on the US until Mr Trump signs the bill.

On Thursday the senate backed the sanctions bill, which also imposes sanctions on Iran and North Korea, by a margin of 98-2 with strong support from Mr Trump's fellow Republicans as well as Democrats.

It will now be sent to the White House for Mr Trump to sign into law or veto.

Thoughts?

[mr friendly guy]

Tit for tat it seems.

Another thing to consider is, is Trump still pro Russian. My thoughts are, even if he personally is, he is so fucking incompetent and running the show that the US will most probably not have a coherent policy. I mean we see so many back flips, I myself have noted several in one of the Trump mega threads. Personally if the US is too busy sorting out its own internal mess, then we might get less wars, er I mean interventions elsewhere.

[Vendetta]

Tit for tat it seems.

Another thing to consider is, is Trump still pro Russian. My thoughts are, even if he personally is, he is so fucking incompetent and running the show that the US will most probably not have a coherent policy. I mean we see so many back flips, I myself have noted several in one of the Trump mega threads. Personally if the US is too busy sorting out its own internal mess, then we might get less wars, er I mean interventions elsewhere.

If Trump was supported by anyone in Russia, his obvious disruptive incompetence was probably high on the list of desirable features...

[K. A. Pital]

A response to the current round of sanctions, it seems.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I can't comment on the international politics, but I do foresee Trump supporters crowing "see, clearly Trump isn't working with Russia, duh!" and feeling vindicated. And probably then finding a way to blame Clinton or Obama for this because reasons.

[Dragon Angel]

At this point, Putin could be putting boots on the ground in California while Trump declares he gave permission for them to conduct "just a few military exercises nothing to worry about fellas" there, and Trump people would still say "nope, no buddy buddy friendliness, nope nope it's all FaKe NeWs".

[Flagg]

I wonder how many loads of Putin's jism Donnie Dingleberry will have to swallow before that American property will be returned. I figure at least 7 gallons.

[SCRawl]

I wonder how many loads of Putin's jism Donnie Dingleberry will have to swallow before that American property will be returned. I figure at least 7 gallons.

The average human man's ejaculate is about a teaspoon in volume, or 5mL. Let's assume that Putin is double that, because he's Vladimir Putin, so two teaspoons. There are 768 teaspoons in a U.S. gallon. That's more than seven years' worth, assuming the leaders of both nations could work out their schedules to the point that a once/day session was feasible. So if they got started now, it would take until the Trump lame duck period near the end of his second term. *shudder*

In other words, not feasible at all. Honestly, did you not do even the most rudimentary calculations? I didn't even have to approximate Putin as a spherical volume of iron...

[mr friendly guy]

Tit for tat it seems.

Another thing to consider is, is Trump still pro Russian. My thoughts are, even if he personally is, he is so fucking incompetent and running the show that the US will most probably not have a coherent policy. I mean we see so many back flips, I myself have noted several in one of the Trump mega threads. Personally if the US is too busy sorting out its own internal mess, then we might get less wars, er I mean interventions elsewhere.

If Trump was supported by anyone in Russia, his obvious disruptive incompetence was probably high on the list of desirable features...

True, and I am sure there are some leaders who would most probably prefer Trump's erratic behaviour and incompetence to the predictability of every other candidate. That being said, I was referring to what Trump thinks of Russia and not what Russia thinks of Trump (which is most along the lines of he is better for us than Hilary).

[Vendetta]

Tit for tat it seems.

Another thing to consider is, is Trump still pro Russian. My thoughts are, even if he personally is, he is so fucking incompetent and running the show that the US will most probably not have a coherent policy. I mean we see so many back flips, I myself have noted several in one of the Trump mega threads. Personally if the US is too busy sorting out its own internal mess, then we might get less wars, er I mean interventions elsewhere.

If Trump was supported by anyone in Russia, his obvious disruptive incompetence was probably high on the list of desirable features...

True, and I am sure there are some leaders who would most probably prefer Trump's erratic behaviour and incompetence to the predictability of every other candidate. That being said, I was referring to what Trump thinks of Russia and not what Russia thinks of Trump (which is most along the lines of he is better for us than Hilary).

I'm sure Trump loves how Russia treats is kleptocratic oligarchs and views it as a model society for the benefit of Donald Trump. In terms of Russia as geopolitical rival of the United States, well, that's in the category if things which are not Donald Trump so he wasn't listening when they told him about it.

[Simon_Jester]

Tit for tat it seems.

Another thing to consider is, is Trump still pro Russian. My thoughts are, even if he personally is, he is so fucking incompetent and running the show that the US will most probably not have a coherent policy. I mean we see so many back flips, I myself have noted several in one of the Trump mega threads. Personally if the US is too busy sorting out its own internal mess, then we might get less wars, er I mean interventions elsewhere.

Indeed.

The Russians were never going to get an intelligent agent on Russia's side into the White House.

What they could do was (with considerable luck) get a crazed agent into the White House, an agent of random chaos who is at least favorably disposed towards Russia in general, and too crazy and ignorant to be effective in leading rivalry against Russia.

[Flagg]

I wonder how many loads of Putin's jism Donnie Dingleberry will have to swallow before that American property will be returned. I figure at least 7 gallons.

The average human man's ejaculate is about a teaspoon in volume, or 5mL. Let's assume that Putin is double that, because he's Vladimir Putin, so two teaspoons. There are 768 teaspoons in a U.S. gallon. That's more than seven years' worth, assuming the leaders of both nations could work out their schedules to the point that a once/day session was feasible. So if they got started now, it would take until the Trump lame duck period near the end of his second term. *shudder*

In other words, not feasible at all. Honestly, did you not do even the most rudimentary calculations? I didn't even have to approximate Putin as a spherical volume of iron...

You didn't know that Putin is all "Howard Hughs" about his baby batter, blasting it into mason jars and putting it in cold storage?


I went from laughing to gagging to laughing typing that.

[Eulogy]

I suppose that if Trump were to blow all of Putin's friends as well, that time could be shortened rather considerably.