Published
time: 1 Sep, 2017 18:47Edited time: 1 Sep, 2017 20:18
© Justin
Sullivan / Getty Images
Russia's
foreign ministry has said US security services intend to conduct searches in
the building of the Russian consulate in San Francisco on September 2.
"Alongside
the yet another raid on expensive objects of Russian state property, which [the
US] have blocked and are now persistently offering us to put on sale, this time
the orders of the US authorities pose a direct threat to security of Russian
citizens" in the US, the ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in
a statement.
The
searches will not only be carried out at Russia's consulate offices, but also
at the apartments of staff who live in the building and who have immunity, she
said.
To
perform those searches, US authorities have ordered those staff members and
their families, including children and babies, to leave their homes for up to
12 hours.
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"We
are talking about an invasion in the consulate office and homes of diplomatic
staff, who themselves are being ousted not to disturb FBI agents,"
Zakharova stated.
She
pointed out that Moscow was given just two days to close one of its largest
consulates which serves the needs of "several densely populated states."
The movements of Russian diplomats and official delegations have also become
more stringent, she noted, describing Washington's latest move as "unprecedented
measures on restricting the work" of the Russian diplomatic mission in
the US.
Washington's
actions seriously violate international norms, including the US' obligations in
the Vienna declarations on diplomatic and consulate relations, the foreign
ministry spokeswoman underlined.
Adding
that the latest US decision "even exceeds" Obama's move to
expel Russian diplomats and confiscate Russian diplomatic property in December
2016, Zakharova said Washington's actions only further exacerbate the already
uneasy atmosphere hanging over the bilateral relations of the two countries.
Diplomatic war: From #Obama’s expulsion of Russian embassy staff to #Trump’s closure of SF consulate
Tens of
thousands of people "who are far from politics" will suffer
from Washington's measures in both countries, Zakharova warned. While the US
has previously stopped issuing visas to Russian citizens in US consulates in
several major Russian cities, they are now preventing Americans from getting
Russian visas in San Francisco.
"It
is obvious that the US is not interested in the development of relations
between people," Zakharova said.
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