Illustrative image (Source: Reuters)

Russia in August banned the US embassy in Moscow from retaining, hiring, or contracting Russian or third-country staff, except for guards, forcing the mission to let go 182 employees and dozens of contractors, the State Department said. That meant that there are now only about 100 US diplomats in Russia, compared with 400 Russian diplomats in the US.

The senators called this disproportionality in diplomatic representation unacceptable. In a letter to Biden, they said Russia must issue enough visas to approach parity between the number of American diplomats serving in Russia and the number of Russian diplomats serving in the United States.