The US has started removing furniture and equipment from a Moscow property as it begins complying with an order to slash its diplomatic presence in Russia.

President Putin ordered America to get rid of 755 of its 1,200 staff by 1 September in retaliation for sanctions approved by Congress last week.

The Russian government will also seize two properties, said Mr Putin, including a country villa on the outskirts of Moscow, where removal men were working on Tuesday.

Image: Trucks left the villa after removal men spent three hours inside the compound

Furniture, beds, play equipment and barbeques were among the items seen being packed up and put into three white vans.

The villa (known as a dacha in Russian) was used to hold weekend parties for diplomats, journalists and students.


Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said staff had been given a midday deadline to leave, according to Russian news agency TASS.

Image: Police cars blocked a US embassy warehouse in Moscow

Many of the hundreds of staff being culled will be Russian citizens and the US will be allowed to choose who goes.

One member of staff at the US embassy, who wanted their anonymity protected, told Reuters: "The mood in the office is very pessimistic.

"Everyone is just loitering, or sitting on job websites looking for a new job."

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Mr Putin's order is designed to show he is prepared to stand up to America after Congress passed a sanctions bill punishing Russia for alleged interference in the 2016 election and the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

The 184-page bill hits Mr Putin and the oligarchs close to him by targeting crucial sectors of the Russian economy, including weapons sales and energy exports.

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The White House has said President Trump - who recently met his Russian counterpart of the first time prompting hopes of improved relations - will sign the bill into law.

The US government last year carried out its own diplomatic expulsions over the election meddling claims when Barack Obama ordered 35 Russian diplomats to leave and evicted officials from two compounds.