MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2020) There are 51 confirmed Russian schoolchildren in the United States at the moment on private educational programs and their return is being discussed directly with the programs' organizers, the US embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Ross told RIA Novosti.
Earlier in the day, the Russian ministry of foreign affairs said it had been informed of dozens Russian school students stranded in the US over the COVID-19 travel restrictions. They presumably arrived in the US in fall for a study abroad program that was discontinued due to the pandemic. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had not been made aware of any educational programs that require Russian school children to leave for the US.
According to Ross, the US embassy knew of 51 Russian students stranded in the US. She said those of them who wanted to return home to Russia were discussing repatriation directly with the programs' organizers.
Ross said the US government neither funded these programs nor provided any grants or other financial support to their participants.
She also said that the embassy had provided all available information about these students directly to the Russian Foreign Ministry on April 13.
Ross said the US Department of State was working to ensure that all foreign nationals currently in the US have access to full and timely information about their repatriation options.
