Story highlights Putin announced US diplomatic missions would be gutted of 755 staff

His move followed a US Congress decision to place new sanctions on Russia

(CNN) US Vice President Mike Pence launched into a wide-ranging tirade against Russia on Monday, signaling no let-up in an increasingly bitter row between Moscow and Washington over sanctions.

On a visit to the Baltics, Pence denounced Russia as an "unpredictable neighbor" that sought to "redraw international borders by force."

Pence's intervention, on a visit to the Estonian capital of Tallinn, came a day after President Vladimir Putin announced he would gut US missions in the country. That decision came after US Congress passed a bill last week to slap fresh sanctions on Russia over its 2016 US election meddling.

Any prospect of a reset of US-Russian relations, previously advocated by both Putin and US President Donald Trump, now appears slim.

"At this very moment, Russia continues to seek to redraw international borders by force, undermine democracy in sovereign nations, and divide the free nations of Europe, one against another," Pence said at a press conference, alluding to the Russian annexation of Crimea.

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