MOSCOW: Russia's foreign ministry on Friday announced counter measures in response to tough new sanctions proposed by the United States, ordering Washington to reduce its diplomatic staff.

"We propose to the US side to bring the number of diplomatic and technical staff working in the US embassy in Moscow and the consulates general... in exact accordance with the number of Russian diplomats and technical staff in the US," the ministry said, specifying that this would reduce the number of US diplomats and staff to 455.