American authorities raised the issue of the Russian ambassador departure from the US if the guards of the American ambassador in Moscow, John Sullivan, are not given visas. This threat is considered serious in Kremlin.
“The threat is serious,” the Kremlin Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.
As reminded by the Russian Ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, on January 26, the US authorities have been reducing the Russian diplomatic presence in their country for the past four years.
“The State Department clearly told our employees that the Russian ambassador would be forced to leave the US by April if we did not fulfil a number of conditions of the United States of America for granting visas to the guards of the American ambassador in Moscow,” the Russian diplomat said.
Antonov also recalled that 27 Russian diplomats should leave the embassy in the US on January 30, and 28 more on June 30. Washington has imposed a limit on the duration of business trips. Interestingly, although the embassy staff is not formally expelled, Moscow was warned that after the specified deadlines, those who remain will be arrested.
He noted that the issue of the return of diplomatic property to Russia and problems with the issuance of American visas for Russians are not progressing in the US. The Russian Embassy sent hundreds of notes to the State Department, but apart from promises, it achieved nothing.
Ru-Main, 27.01.2022
Source: Rossaprimavera
