The announcement comes in the wake of U.S. Congress voting for fresh sanctions against Russia. According to media reports there are about 1,210 employees in Russia in total.
Apparently, Putin has left it up to the United States what proportion of which staff, American or local, it wants to shed by September 1.
As our infographic shows, of more than 74,600 staff employed at the U.S. Department of State, the majority, close to 50,900 are local staff. This leaves us with 24,700 U.S. staff, of which close to 9500 are based overseas at 275 posts in 195 countries, which comes down to an average 34.5 staff per overseas post (keeping in mind that missions or post vary considerable in size).
In general, the Department of State American workforce is split in to two main categories, civil service and foreign service. Most civil servants are based in the U.S.