MOSCOW (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Moscow accused Russian authorities on Monday of barring diplomatic staff from a property on the outskirts of Moscow, after having earlier agreed to grant access until midday on Tuesday for them to retrieve belongings. 
 
 A Russian foreign ministry official, quoted by state news agency RIA, said the U.S. embassy had sent in its trucks without first obtaining permits which, the official said, are required by law because the property is in a conservation area. 
 
 The property, in a picturesque spot on a bend in the Moskva river northwest of the capital, is leased by the U.S. embassy for its staff to use for recreation. 
 
 Moscow has said it is taking it back as part of retaliatory measures after Washington approved a fresh round of sanctions against Russia. 
 
 A Reuters TV cameraman outside the country residence, known in Russian as a dacha, saw five vehicles with diplomatic license plates, including a truck, arrive at the site. He said they were denied entry. 
 
 An embassy spokeswoman said: “In line with the Russian government notification, the U.S. Mission to Russia was supposed to have access to our dacha until noon on Aug. 1. 
 
 “We have not had access all day today or yesterday,” she said. “We refer you to the Russian government to explain why not.” 
 
 The Russian foreign ministry official, who was not identified, said the Americans were to blame for failing to obtain the necessary permits. To accuse Russia of blocking access amounts to a “pre-meditated provocation,” RIA news agency cited the official as saying. ||||| A country house at a dacha compound used by U.S. diplomats for recreation, in Serebryany Bor residential area in the west of Moscow, Russia, July 31, 2017 
 
 Russia blocked access on Tuesday to U.S. Embassy recreational property in a Moscow suburb and closed a 2,000 square meter warehouse in an industrial area in the capital's southern outskirts. 
 
 
 
 The move is part of Russia’s response to a U.S. Congress vote last week to codify existing sanctions against Moscow. Russia has also ordered Washington to cut its diplomatic staff in Russia by more than 700. 
 
 While Aug. 1 was the official start date of the U.S. property closure, U.S. Embassy spokesperson Maria Olson complained they had not been allowed access to the site for two days. 
 
 An unidentified Russian Foreign Ministry official told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency that the Americans were to blame for not acquiring the requisite permits to access the property. The official added that blaming Russia for blocking access amounted to a “pre-meditated provocation.” 
 
 At the end of 2016, the White House under former President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S. and closed two Russian diplomatic recreational facilities as a response to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. ||||| Russian sailors stand in attention as Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves after attending the military parade during the Navy Day celebration in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday, July 30, 2017. (AP... (Associated Press) 
 
 Russian sailors stand in attention as Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves after attending the military parade during the Navy Day celebration in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday, July 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool) (Associated Press) 
 
 MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded the United States cut its embassy and consulate staff in Russia by 755 people, underlining his displeasure with U.S. sanctions and heightening tensions between Washington and Moscow. 
 
 The U.S. State Department called Putin's move "a regrettable and uncalled-for act." 
 
 Putin's announcement Sunday came three days after the U.S. Congress approved sanctions against Russia and just hours after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence landed in Estonia, which borders Russia, for talks with the country that holds the rotating European Union presidency. 
 
 Russian's Foreign Ministry on Friday ordered a reduction by Sept. 1 in U.S. diplomatic personnel in Russia to 455 people in response to a new package of American sanctions. The White House says President Donald Trump will sign those sanctions into law. 
 
 The sanctions, which also target Iran and North Korea, seek to punish Moscow for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and for its military aggression in Ukraine and Syria. 
 
 "We had hoped that the situation will somehow change, but apparently if it changes, it won't be soon," Putin told Rossiya 1, explaining why Moscow decided to retaliate. "I thought it was the time to show that we're not going to leave it without an answer." 
 
 Russia is open to cooperating with the U.S. on various issues, including terrorism and cybercrime, but instead it "only hears unfounded accusations of meddling in U.S. domestic affairs," he said. 
 
 Putin said more than 1,000 people are currently employed at the Moscow embassy and three U.S. consulates in Russia. They include both Americans and Russians hired to work in the diplomatic offices. 
 
 The Russian leader did not explain how the figure of 755 positions was calculated. 
 
 In a statement, the State Department said: "This is a regrettable and uncalled-for act. We are assessing the impact of such a limitation and how we will respond to it. We have no further comment at this time." 
 
 The State Department declined to give an exact number of American diplomats or other U.S. officials in Russia, but the figure is believed to be about 400, some of whom have families accompanying them on diplomatic passports. 
 
 The vast majority of the more than 1,000 employees at the various U.S. diplomatic missions in Russia, including the embassy in Moscow and consulates in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg, are local employees. 
 
 Asked about the potential for additional sanctions against Washington, Putin described the reduction in diplomatic staff as "painful" and said he currently opposes further measures. 
 
 "We certainly have something to respond with and restrict those areas of joint cooperation that will be painful for the American side, but I don't think we need to do it," he said, adding that such steps could also harm Russian interests. 
 
 Putin mentioned space and energy as the main areas where Russia and the United States have successfully pursued projects together. 
 
 Along with the cap on the size of the U.S. diplomatic corps in Russia, the Russian foreign ministry on Friday said it also was closing down a U.S. recreational retreat on the outskirts of Moscow as well as warehouse facilities. 
 
 The diplomatic tit-for-tat started under former U.S. President Barack Obama. In response to reports of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and shut down two Russian recreational retreats in the U.S. 
 
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 AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
– Vladimir Putin is paying back the US for what he says is its "insolence" in approving new sanctions against Russia, kicking American diplomats out of the country by September and shuttering the US Embassy's recreational compound (aka "dacha") just outside Moscow. That payback apparently includes not letting the diplomats get their stuff out first, per Reuters, which reports that a news agency cameraman spotted five vehicles sporting diplomatic license plates drive up to the retreat Monday, only to be turned away. "The US mission to Russia was supposed to have access to our dacha until noon on August 1," an Embassy spokeswoman says, citing an agreement with the Russian government. "We have not had access all day today or yesterday. We refer you to the Russian government to explain why not." The Russian government doesn't deny the deadline, but it's taking issue with the US' side of things. Per the RIA state news agency, a Russian foreign ministry rep says the property—which the Moscow Times describes as a "2,000-square-meter warehouse in an industrial area"—is in a conservation area, and so the trucks used by the Americans can't enter without proper permits (the official says three of those vehicles were industrial-sized cargo trucks, per RT.com). The official also scoffs at the suggestion Russia was flat-out barring the US from the dacha, noting that assertion was a "premeditated provocation." Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Russia John Tefft gathered all Moscow Embassy staff to inform them of Russia's decision, which includes slashing 755 roles at US diplomatic missions. "The atmosphere was like a funeral," one unnamed source said, per the Independent.