US Embassy in Russia suspends visa services

MOSCOW — The U.S. Embassy in Moscow announced Monday that it would temporarily stop issuing all nonimmigrant visas in Russia and severely curtail visa operations as it slashes its staff to comply with the latest salvo in Washington’s diplomatic standoff with Moscow.

The decision comes after Russia demanded that the U.S. mission in the country reduce its staff from more than 1,200 employees to 455, the same size as the Russian diplomatic mission in the United States. The American Embassy’s announcement will probably mean delays for the hundreds of thousands of Russians who apply for nonimmigrant visas to the United States each year.