Moscow slams Bolton's claims on military tech theft, recalls property seizure by US

The Russian Foreign Ministry has lashed out at US President Donald Trump's hawkish national security adviser for his remarks alleging that Moscow was stealing US military technology.

The reaction came after John Bolton accused Russia of developing hypersonic glide vehicles and cruise missiles based on stolen US military technology.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Friday rejected Bolton’s accusations and pointed to past incidents involving the seizure of Russia’s diplomatic property by Washington.

"Since the issue of theft popped into John Bolton’s head, then I’ll remind him that Washington stole the buildings of the Russian Consulate General and the residence of Russia’s Consul General in San Francisco, the Russian trade mission in Washington, the residence of the Russian Consul General in Seattle, along with two Russian diplomatic facilities in Maryland and New York," the diplomat said.

"However, what is way more significant, it kidnapped a large number of Russian citizens from third countries. Or is that not theft, Mr. Bolton? Then give them back," she added.

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The Russian president says the hypersonic system was successfully tested on his order and will enter service next year.

Zakharova also hinted that the United States had stolen numerous technologies from various countries.

"It will be interesting to do the math on how many and which innovations the United States has stolen from various countries around the world. That’s what I will do in my spare time. Send me interesting historical facts and contemporary data, and we will sum them up," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

The United States and Russia engaged in a row over diplomatic property in December 2016, when outgoing US President Barack Obama closed down Russian diplomatic compounds in New York and Maryland and expelled 35 Russian diplomats.

One year later, US President Donald Trump shut down the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco and trade missions in New York City and Washington in response to Moscow's decision to reduce the number of US diplomatic staff in Russia.

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Moscow welcomes the return of 60 Russian diplomats expelled from the US over British poisoning affair.

In March 2018, the administration in Washington closed the Russian Consulate in Seattle over allegations that Moscow was involved in the poisoning attack against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK despite the Kremlin’s denial.

Reports said the US State Department officials had entered the residence of the former Russian consul after breaking all the locks.

Moscow denounced at the time the US move as a violation of international law.

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