The Russian ambassador to the United States accused Washington of expelling Russian diplomas: Politics: Russia: Lenta.ru
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov accused the United States of deliberately distorting the facts of demands for Russian diplomats to leave the country. He stated that Washington is actually expelling diplomats, quotes his words RIA News…
Russian Ambassador Council that in this way the United States is trying to violate the sovereign right of the Russian Federation to carry out, at its discretion, personnel appointments to its diplomatic missions.
On November 27, Anatoly Antonov announced that Russian diplomats would leave the United States on January 30, and the same number would leave on June 30, 2022, that is, only 54 people. He agrees that accreditation is taken away from the spouses of diplomatic corps employees, and children are not issued visas.
The ambassador said that Washington is pursuing a family separation policy, despite its declared respect for family values. In addition, the Russian ambassador also said that the United States rejects all of Russia’s proposals to restore inter-parliamentary ties, does not agree to requests for meetings in Congress and refuses to listen to Russian argumentation.
US State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter said that the departure of 54 Russian diplomats, scheduled for 2022, cannot be viewed as their expulsion or punitive measure. She stated that the United States continues to discuss with Russia the issue of the rotational timing of diplomats.
According to Porter, the United States is allegedly making Russian diplomats the same demands that Russia makes to State Department employees. She assured that such a decision on the part of the American authorities would bring greater parity in relations between Russia and the United States.
However, the Russian ambassador rejected the arguments of the State Department spokeswoman that the departure of Russian diplomats should not be regarded as expulsion. According to the diplomat, they do not stand up to criticism. Antonov explained.
Antonov recalled that it was the State Department in December 2020 that unilaterally set a three-year limit on long-term business trips for employees of the embassy in Washington and the general consulates of Russia in New York and Houston. The ambassador also points out that the diplomatic representative of other states is using this five-year period in the United States.
Antonov, it is stated that Russia will nullify on a reciprocal basis all visa restrictions with the United States in the last years of its life. According to the diplomat, Russia stands for an honest and respectful dialogue on all visa “irritants”. He expressed confidence that if there is “goodwill” all problems can be solved quickly enough.
Onal Washington will return to international obligations in diplomatic ownership and good practice in the functioning of diplomatic missions. “Our proposals remain in the” negotiation rooms “”, – Antonov’s consent.