Every Russian diplomat in the United States faces the risk of expulsion and the overall situation is unpredictable, Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Tuesday
UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th November, 2021) Every Russian diplomat in the United States faces the risk of expulsion and the overall situation is unpredictable, Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Tuesday.
"Every Russian diplomat who is working in the United States faces certain threats and it is unpredictable," Polyanskiy said during a press briefing. "Nobody is safe, including myself, because you never know what will come to the minds of our American friends."
Polyanskiy said the complexity of the situation prevents Russia and the United States from achieving a "renaissance" in their bilateral relations.
"This situation is not normal. It has to be changed. We have to remove all these obstacles. We have to come back to the normal functioning of our diplomatic missions," he said.
Although Russian diplomats working at the country's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York experience fewer difficulties than their colleagues in Washington, they still face issues caused by restrictions imposed by the US government that obstruct the working process, Polyanskiy said.
"The status (of the diplomatic mission to) the United Nations helps us a lot but... we still face very problematic and nervous situations when we want to bring somebody here to the United Nations, which should be done automatically as part of US obligations as the host country," Polyanskiy added.
Last week, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said 27 Russian diplomats will leave the United States on January 30. US State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter said on Monday the order is not an expulsion and Russia can assign other diplomatic members instead of those departing.
