Maria Zakharova
Official representative of Russian foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that closing in the United States one of the Russian consulates no reason. She stated this on air of the program “Sunday evening” on TV channel “Russia 1”, reports TASS.
“Now if you will tell what for many years was broken parity and now is the time to raze it to stop the hostile actions of the Russian Federation — it’s a total bluff, it is designed for those who do not know the essence of the issue,” she said.
The diplomat explained that after the collapse of the Soviet Union’s Consulate General, which provided parity between Russia and the United States, remained on the territory of Ukraine. “Moscow offered Washington to open on the territory of the Russian Federation the additional fourth Consulate to maintain this parity. Washington has not seen fit to do it,” she added.
“All questions to them. Therefore, speculation on this theme also will not work”, — said Zakharov.
On 11 August, the newspaper “Kommersant”, citing diplomatic sources, said the response to Moscow’s actions, demanded to reduce the staff of the American diplomatic missions in Russia, may be the closure of one of the four Russian consulates in the United States. At the moment, the US is in Russia, three of the Consulate General.
The representative of the national security Council at the White house, told TASS that the U.S. government was still studying the answer choices. Washington promised to give him until 1 September.
After the U.S. Congress passed a bill to expand anti-Russian sanctions Moscow has decided to demand from Washington to September 1, to reduce the staff of the American diplomatic missions to 455 people (to bring the number of employees at the Embassy and the Consulate General of the USA in Russia in exact correspondence with the number of employees of the Russian diplomatic missions in the United States). In this regard, President Vladimir Putin said: “more than a Thousand diplomats and technical workers — is still working in Russia, 755 will have to cease operations”.
In addition, the Russian side suspended from August 1 the use of the American Embassy warehouse space on a Traffic street in Moscow and cottages in the Serebryany Bor.
In December 2016, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama decided to send 35 Russian diplomats and close access to diplomatic dachas in the States of Maryland and new York.