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Russia lashes out at US over 'hostile' closure of diplomatic missions

Sunday, 03 September 2017 2:06 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 04 September 2017 10:37 AM ]

A sign is seen at the entrance of the compound of the Trade Representation building of the Russian Federation in Washington DC on September 2, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

The Russian Foreign Ministry has described a decision by the United States to close Moscow’s diplomatic sites on its soil as further blow to efforts made to repair strained ties between the two countries.

“We treat these developments as a blatantly hostile act, a grave violation by Washington of international law,” said the ministry in a statement on Sunday.

The statement called on US authorities to reverse the order to close the Russian consulate in San Francisco and two buildings housing Russia's trade missions in Washington and New York.

“We urge the US authorities to come to their senses and immediately return the Russian diplomatic facilities... Otherwise the USA will bear total blame for the ongoing degradation of the relations between our countries,” read the statement on the ministry's website.

On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned a US diplomat in Moscow to protest Washington’s plans to conduct searches at Russia's trade mission.

According to a Foreign Ministry statement on Saturday, Anthony F. Godfrey, a deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Moscow, was summoned and handed a note of protest regarding the planned "illegal inspection" of the Russian diplomatic complex.

PressTV-Russia summons US envoy to protest mission search

The Russian Foreign Ministry summons a US diplomat in protest at planned search of its trade mission in Washington.

Russia and the US have been locked in a quagmire of diplomatic tit-for-tats since a conflict began in Ukraine in 2014. The US imposed extensive sanctions on Russia over its integration of the Crimea, although Russia insisted that it was legal and decided in a referendum.
Washington also ordered the evacuation of Russian diplomatic properties in December last year over allegations that Moscow interfered in US presidential elections. The Russians reserved a response until the US Congress adopted tougher sanctions against Moscow last month. The Russian Foreign Ministry, in response, ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half to 455 people.

The latest decision in the US for cutting Russia’s diplomatic presence was made in late August. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, told the official TASS agency on Sunday that the US government had indicated that they expected Moscow to sell the diplomatic facilities, something that the White House has yet to confirm.

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