On February 3, a meeting of representatives of the Russian Federation and the United States on “irritants” was held in the capital of Austria. During the consultations, Moscow was denied all claims, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said on February 5.
According to him, this reaction caused regret in Moscow. Russian diplomats came for consultations with a “positive program”.
“The program is aimed at one thing: to nullify or remove all restrictions on the activities of Russian diplomats in the United States of America and Russia, to enable diplomats to work in peace,” he specified.
The Russian side included in the demands requests for the abolition of the “visa war” and the resumption of the normal work of Russian diplomatic missions. In addition, 28 more Russian diplomats will have to leave the United States by June 30, Antonov concluded.
On January 30, 27 Russian diplomats with their families have already left the United States.
On October 30, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced US plans to expel 55 more Russian diplomats. She explained that at the moment about 130 people work in American diplomatic missions in Russia, while less than 200 people work in the Russian diplomatic mission in Washington and two consulates general in New York and Houston.
In the same month, US senators asked US President Joe Biden to expel 300 Russian diplomats if Moscow refuses to expand the staff of the US embassy.
As Zakharova noted, the United States, solely on its own initiative, reduced the number of consular employees in the Russian diplomatic mission, provoking the destruction of visa services in the Russian Federation. According to her, the American embassy is not actively working either in the economic, or in the political, or in the humanitarian direction of work.
On October 27, the State Department expressed concern that the work of the US Embassy in Russia, against the backdrop of a reduction in the diplomatic staff, would be reduced to performing only technical functions. It was noted that the staff of the American embassy in Moscow was reduced from 1,200 people in 2017 to 120 as of October 2021.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
