Russia regularly raises the issue of having its seized diplomatic property returned in contacts with the United States but has not received any answer yet, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2020) Russia regularly raises the issue of having its seized diplomatic property returned in contacts with the United States but has not received any answer yet, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
"We regularly raise the question of getting our property back in contacts with US representatives at various levels. Unfortunately, there are no results yet. Therefore, we draw the attention of international organizations and other countries to the blatant arbitrariness that Washington practices in violating its obligations," the ministry said in a statement with answers to journalists' questions prepared ahead of acting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's press conference.
According to the statement, the Russian Embassy in the United States sends requests for Washington to authorize inspections of the seized property every two weeks, but all of them have been ignored.
In December 2016, Washington decided to expel 35 Russian diplomats and block access to two Russian diplomatic compounds in response to Russia's alleged meddling in the US presidential election. Moscow has repeatedly denied the accusation.
In September 2017, the United States shut down Russia's Consulate General in San Francisco, and trade missions in New York City and Washington. US officials said the move came in response to Moscow's decision that July to reduce the number of US diplomatic workers in Russia to 455 people, the same as Russia has in the United States. After Russian diplomats left the diplomatic compounds, US security agents entered the premises to conduct searches. Moscow said that the actions of the United States constituted a violation of international law, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations.
