MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. In case "the exchange of pleasantries" with the United States is ongoing, Moscow may ask Washington to thin out the number of its diplomatic staff in Russia to 150 people, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference on Friday.

According to Lavrov, 450 Russian diplomats work in the United States. Of those, 150 people work at Russia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, and the rest 300 at the embassy and consulates. In the meantime, there are 450 US diplomats in Russia.

"In case our exchanges of pleasantries are continued, we will ask Americans to bring the number of their diplomats, who are responsible for bilateral relations with Russia, in conformity with the number of our staff working at the embassy and the two consulates general," Lavrov noted.

The Russian foreign minister pointed out that amid those conditions, there would remain a considerable disparity in personnel between the diplomatic missions of Russia and the US.