Russia is ready to continue helping save the U.S. budget and invites Washington to continue reducing its diplomatic staff in Russia, lawmaker Frants Klintsevich said Friday.
Klintsevich, first Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Federation Council Committee on Defence and Security, made this known while reacting to remarks of President Donald Trump.
He said: “If the US president decided to come up with a joke instead of seriously talking about real and very difficult problems in Russia-U.S. relations, we are ready to respond in the same spirit.
“Our answer might roughly be: ‘If we knew in advance that the U.S. was mostly concerned with the cost-cutting for diplomatic staff, then would certainly help.’”
On Thursday, Trump said he was not upset about decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to cut down the number of diplomats and technical staff of diplomatic missions in Russia, because it would help the U.S. government save money.
According to the lawmaker, it is still not too late to help Washington cut costs even further.
“So how many more diplomats should we send from Russia, Mr Trump, that the U.S. budget finally sighed with relief. Please, tell us the exact figure,” Klintsevich said.
Late July, the Russian Foreign Ministry called on the U.S. to cut down the number of diplomats and technical staff of diplomatic missions in Russia by 755 people to 455, on par with Russia’s diplomatic representation in the U.S., by Sept. 1.
It also said that on Aug. 1, Russia would be suspending the use of warehouses in Moscow and a compound in the Serebryany Bor park by the U.S. embassy.
The move came as a response to the administration of then-President Barack Obama imposing a number of sanctions against Russia in December 2016, which included expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and closure of two Russian diplomatic compounds in the states of New York and Maryland.
U.S. diplomatic missions in Russia include Moscow-based embassy and three consulates general, in Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg. (Sputnik/NAN)