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. ||||| A stand-off has reportedly developed outside a building used by US embassy staff after Russia ordered the White House to reduce its diplomatic staff by 60 per cent. 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin issued the ultimatum amid tensions with the US over a decision by Congress to approve a new set of sanctions on Moscow. He said they were ordering Washington to cut 755 diplomatic staff by September. 
 
 Moscow also said it would seize two US diplomatic properties, a warehouse in southern Moscow and a complex on the outskirts of the city that embassy staff use for weekend recreation. 
 
 On Monday, a Reuters journalist saw five vehicles with diplomatic licence plates, one of them a cargo truck, arrive at the recreation complex. The convoy was refused access, the journalist reported. 
 
 An embassy spokeswoman said: "In line with the Russian government notification, the US Mission to Russia was supposed to have access to our dacha until noon on 1 August. 
 
 "We have not had access all day today or yesterday. We refer you to the Russian government to explain why not." 
 
 A 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. 
 
 All staff at the US embassy in Moscow were summoned to a meeting at which Ambassador John Tefft briefed employees on the Russian decision, the toughest diplomatic demarche between the two countries since the Cold War. 
 
 "The atmosphere was like a funeral," said a person who was present and spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the media. 
 
 World news in pictures 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 show all World news in pictures 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1/50 20 February 2018 Members of the Syrian civil defence evacuate an injured civilian on a stretcher from an area hit by a reported regime air strike in the rebel-held town of Saqba, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus. AFP/Getty 
 
 2/50 19 February 2018 A Thai Navy instructor demonstrates how to catch a snake during a jungle survival exercise as part of the "Cobra Gold 2018" (CG18) joint military exercise with US soldiers, at a military base in Chonburi province, Thailand. Reuters 
 
 3/50 18 February 2018 Children play outside their destroyed school in the Frikeh village, in Idlib, north-western Syria 
 
 4/50 17 February 2018 A pro-Kurd demonstrator attends a protest demanding the release of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in Strasbourg, France 
 
 5/50 16 February 2018 Joe Zevuloni mourns in front of a cross placed in a park to commemorate the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida Reuters 
 
 6/50 15 February 2018 South Africa's new president Cyril Ramaphosa holds up his right hand as he is sworn into office AFP/Getty 
 
 7/50 14 February 2018 The African National Congress’s (ANC) treasurer general Paul Mashatile (left) and parliamentary chief whip Jackson Mthembu address a media briefing, after an emergency ANC caucus meeting on 14 February in Cape Town. South Africa’s parliament will hold a vote of no-confidence in President Jacob Zuma on 15 February, the ruling ANC party said, signalling its determination to eject him from office after days of stalemate AFP 
 
 8/50 13 February 2018 North Korean cheerleaders are surrounded by media as they attempt to walk on Gyeongpo beach in Gangneung, South Korea AFP/Getty 
 
 9/50 12 February 2018 Former US President Barack Obama unveils his portrait at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC AFP/Getty 
 
 10/50 9 February 2018 US Vice President Mike Pence and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's sister Kim Yo-Jong attend the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games AFP/Getty 
 
 11/50 8 February 2018 Bangladesh police charge towards activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party protesting following a verdict against opposition leader Khaleda Zia in Dhaka. The ex-Prime Minister of Bangladesh was jailed for five years on corruption charges. AFP/Getty 
 
 12/50 7 February 2018 Rescue services search for people in a damaged building in eastern Taiwan after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit Hualien on the night of 6 February, 2018. Media reports said several buildings were damaged and at least four people were killed and some 100 were injured during the quake. Teams are trying to rescue people inside the buildings. Some bridges and roads are damaged and the main road to Hualien is closed. More than 100 earthquakes have hit off Taiwan's east coast in the past three days. The Seismological Observation Center said they are cuased by the friction between the Philipine Plate and Eurasian Plate. EPA 
 
 13/50 6 February 2018 Anti-North Korean protesters push against police as a ferry carrying a North Korean art troupe for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games approaches the port of Mukho in Donghae. Around 120 North Korean art performers in matching red coats and fur hats left for the South, its state media said on February 6, the latest in the flurry of cross-border exchanges in the run-up to the Pyeongchang Olympics. AFP/Getty 
 
 14/50 5 February 2018 Philadelphia Eagles' Nick Foles celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl LII. Reuters 
 
 15/50 4 February 2018 Authorities investigate the scene of a fatal Amtrak train crash in Cayce, South Carolina. At least two were killed and dozens injured. The State via AP 
 
 16/50 3 February 2018 Members of security services react as a man in the crowd tries to shake hands with French President Emmanuel Macron, who walks next to Senegalese President Macky Sall in a street of Saint-Louis, Senegal. Reuters 
 
 17/50 2 February 2018 County Sheriffs restrain Randall Margraves, the father of three daughters who were abused by Larry Nassar, after he tried to attack the former team USA Gymnastics doctor who pleaded guilty in November 2017 to sexual assault charges, during victim statements of his sentencing in the Eaton County Circuit Court in Charlotte, Michigan. REUTERS 
 
 18/50 1 February 2018 Abu Rabih, 65, walks through the rubble with his eight-year-old grandson Yahya following air strikes by regime forces which hit the building where they live in Arbin, in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. Arbin is in the Eastern Ghouta region which has been under government siege since 2013. AFP/Getty Images 
 
 19/50 31 January 2018 A 'Supermoon' shines its blood red colors during a full eclipse above the Big A Sign of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. A 'Supermoon' commonly is described as a full moon at its closest distance to the earth with the moon appearing larger and brighter than usual. EPA 
 
 20/50 30 January 2018 A man wears a mask among fellow supporters as Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga (not pictured) takes a symbolic presidential oath of office in Nairobi. Reuters 
 
 21/50 29 January 2018 Tractors are parked outside a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers during a protest by Belgian farmers in Brussels. Reuters 
 
 22/50 28 January 2018 Bruno Mars accepts Record of the Year for '24K Magic' with his production team onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden in New York. Getty Images for NARAS 
 
 23/50 27 January 2018 Students with torches gather prior to a march in celebration of the 165th birth anniversary of Cuba's independence hero Jose Marti, in Havana. Reuters 
 
 24/50 26 January 2018 A firefighter inspects a burnt hospital after a fire in Miryang, South Korea. 37 people were killed in the fire, with the number of casualties likely to rise further. Kyungnam Shinmun via Getty 
 
 25/50 25 January 2018 Rescue workers and police officers stand near derailed trains in Pioltello, on the outskirts of Milan. Reuters 
 
 26/50 24 January 2018 Afghan police officers take position during a blast and gun fire in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Reuters 
 
 27/50 23 January 2018 Workers clean the beach of the coastal town of Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut, as garbage washed up and piled along the shore after stormy weather. AFP/Getty 
 
 28/50 22 January 2018 A Free Syrian Army soldier takes a selfie as fighters join up with Turkish troops near the Syrian border at Hassa, Hatay province. Turkey shelled Kurdish militia targets in Syria and claimed progress in a cross-border offensive that has stoked concern among its allies and neighbours. 
 
 29/50 21 January 2018 Palestinians take part in a protest against aid cut, outside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) office, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters 
 
 30/50 20 January 2018 Oscar Janicki, 6, participates in the Second Annual Women's March in Philadelphia. Reuters 
 
 31/50 19 January 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin bathes in an ice-cold water on Epiphany near St. Nilus Stolobensky Monastery on Lake Seliger in Svetlitsa village, Russia. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers will plunge into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP 
 
 32/50 18 January 2018 People protest to call for a new DREAM Act to replace DACA in Los Angeles, California. Reuters 
 
 33/50 17 January 2018 Pro-democracy activists Raphael Wong and Joshua Wong arrive at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre after they were jailed on protest related charges following their sentencing at the High Court in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty 
 
 34/50 16 January 2018 Skyscrapers Oriental Pearl Tower and Jin Mao Tower (L) are seen from the Shanghai World Financial Center on a hazy day in the financial district of Pudong in Shanghai, China. Reuters 
 
 35/50 15 January 2018 Martin Luther King III, US Secretary of the Interior and others wait to place a wreath during an event at the Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall. AFP/Getty 
 
 36/50 14 January 2018 A boy stands with women loyal to the Houthi movement during a gathering held to show their support to the movement in Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters 
 
 37/50 13 January 2018 Diego Martin Duplessis of Argentina drives his Honda during the 2018 Peru-Bolivia-Argentina Dakar rally, 40th edition stage seven, La Paz to Uyuni. Reuters 
 
 38/50 12 January 2018 Angela Merkel speaks during a joint press conference after exploratory talks in Berlin. According to reports, the leaders of CDU, CSU and SPD parties after night-long talks agreed on a plan for formal coalition negotiations. EPA 
 
 39/50 11 January 2018 A Pakistani girl holds a picture of Zainab Ansari, an 8-year-old girl who was raped and kidnapped in Kasur, during a protest in Karachi, Pakistan. Anees Ansari, Zainab's father, accused the police of being slow to respond when his daughter went missing in the eastern Punjab province. Two people were killed and three others were wounded in clashes between angry Kasur residents and police after protesters enraged over her death attacked a police station in the city. AP 
 
 40/50 10 January 2018 India's Border Security Force (BSF) ‘Daredevils’ women motorcycle riders perform during a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade on a cold winter morning in New Delhi. Reuters 
 
 41/50 9 January 2018 Members of the South Korea delegation (R) shake hands with members of the North Korean delegation (L) during their meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. North and South Korea began their first official talks in more than two years, focusing on the forthcoming Winter Olympics after months of tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. AFP/Getty 
 
 42/50 8 January 2018 Migrants in a dinghy are rescued by Libyan coast guards off the coast of Garabulli, east of Tripoli. Reuters 
 
 43/50 7 January 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron observes a minute of silence in front of the plaque commemorating late police officer Ahmed Merabet to mark the third anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack, in Paris. Rex 
 
 44/50 6 January 2018 Nicolaos Solis from Greece kisses the wooden cross which was thrown into the waters by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, during the Epiphany ceremony to bless the waters at the Golden Horn in Istanbul. AP 
 
 45/50 5 January 2018 Women mourn the death of a family member following a landslide in Kinshasa. Thirty-seven people died overnight when torrential rain and mudslides swept though shanty homes. AFP/Getty 
 
 46/50 4 January 2018 Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Mosab al-Tamimi, 17, who was shot and killed by Israeli troops, during his funeral near the West Bank city of Ramallah . Reuters 
 
 47/50 3 January 2018 People take part in pro-government rallies, Iran. Tasnim News Agency via Reuters 
 
 48/50 2 January 2018 Indonesian bus passengers watch as Mount Sinabung spews thick smoke in Karo, North Sumatra. AFP/Getty 
 
 49/50 1 January 2018 People take part in the traditional New Year's Day swim in Scheveningen, Netherlands. Rex 
 
 50/50 31 December 2017 Fireworks explode over Sydney Harbour during New Year's Eve celebrations. EPA 
 
 A spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, said that the 755 staff could include Russian citizens, a group who comprise the vast majority of the United States' roughly 1,200 embassy and consulate employees in Russia 
 
 This clarification means there is unlikely to be a mass expulsion of US diplomatic staff from the country. Commenting on which diplomatic staff would have to go, Mr Peskov told reporters: "That's the choice of the United States." 
 
 He added: "(It's) diplomats and technical employees. That is, we're not talking purely about diplomats - obviously, there isn't that number of diplomats - but about people with non-diplomatic status, and people hired locally, and Russian citizens who work there." 
 
 A US State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called Russia's action "a regrettable and uncalled-for act ... We are assessing the impact of such a limitation and how we will respond to it". 
 
 As of 2013, the US mission in Russia, including the Moscow embassy and consulates in St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok, employed 1,279 staff, according to a State Department Inspector General's report that year. That included 934 "locally employed" staff and 301 U.S. "direct-hire" staff. 
 
 The move is thought to be a way for Mr Putin to burnish his nationalist credentials before the presidential elections last year. 
 
 Additional reporting by Reuters ||||| 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.
– 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.