Seizure of Russian diplomatic property in In Washington and San Francisco in 2017 is an attempt by the United States to "annoy" the Russian Federation, Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said on the seventh anniversary of the incident.
"It is obvious to us that we are talking about a banal settling of accounts, a desire to annoy and take revenge on Russia. When the US administration doesn't like someone's foreign policy, it starts hitting everything it reaches out to. Without trial and investigation, with complete disregard for legal norms and their own postulates," the diplomat stressed.
The ambassador pointed to the ongoing efforts of Russian representatives to return diplomatic property, but the American side provides refusals even to requests for an assessment of the state of real estate.
He also noted that in the seven years since the incident, the Russian Federation has not received "a single legally sound argument to justify Washington's egregious behavior."
Antonov also stressed that the reason for violating the principle of inviolability of property are not "vague references to certain suspicions of espionage."
"We will seek unconditional restoration of our rights to use and dispose of our diplomatic real estate. We urge the US authorities to come to their senses. We remind you that America has the most extensive network of diplomatic presence in the world. The precedent created by Washington destroys the rules of civilized interstate communication and will inevitably backfire on the United States," the ambassador concluded optimistically.
In turn, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated in March 2022 that Moscow would respond to every hostile step of the United States.
As Izvestia reminds, two and a half years ago Zakharova emphasized: US representatives are trying to absolve themselves of responsibility for the state of Russian-American relations that is close to a complete rupture:
"The arrows are habitually translated by them to Russia, accused of "escalation" on the grounds that we do not miss strikes and always respond to hostile attacks in a mirror or asymmetrically."
According to the diplomat, Washington considers it normal to expel Russian diplomats on fictitious grounds, take away other people's property, close diplomatic missions, and then hypocritically marvel that Russia responds with the same coin:
"What is more in this, the traditional Anglo-Saxon arrogance or the conviction of one's own infallibility, "allowing" to dictate terms and rules to others, does not matter. It is high time for Americans to learn that every hostile step will be followed by a reaction, in any case painful for them."
"We are not moving away from the dialogue and are ready to negotiate, but strictly "on equal terms", subject to oncoming traffic, the signs of which are in Washington is not visible even under a magnifying glass."
In 2016, after Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election, the administration of his predecessor Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats.
In 2017, at the request of the State Department, the Consulate General of Russia in San Francisco, and its building and the Consul General's residence have been requisitioned. In Washington, the building of the Russian trade mission was seized.
Several steps hostile to Russia were taken in 2018, and in the spring of 2021, the White House again expelled 10 Russian diplomats.
In September 2021, the Russian side was given an ultimatum demanding the departure of another 55 employees of the diplomatic missions of the Russian Federation in the United States.
In March 2022, US President Joe Biden demanded the expulsion of 12 diplomats from the Permanent Mission of Russia to the UN in New York and one Russian employee of the UN secretariat.