02 September, 2017
The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry summoned a USA diplomat in Moscow today (Saturday) handing him a letter of protest concerning the US's plan to search the soon-to-be closed Russian trade mission complex in Washington.
It denounced what it called a planned "illegal inspection" of Russian diplomatic housing as an "unprecedented aggressive action". On Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the Federal Bureau of Investigation was planning to search the general consulate premises, including homes of the diplomatic staff, which would violate diplomatic immunity.
On August 31, the US demanded from Moscow closing by September 2 the Consulate General in San Francisco and ordered work stopped immediately at the trade representation in Washington and its branch in NY.
The ministry said Saturday that it had summoned Anthony Godfrey, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, to receive the note. The U.S. has toughened requirements for mobility of Russian diplomats and official delegations.
Relations between Moscow and Washington are severely strained over Russia's aggression in Ukraine and its alleged meddling in the USA presidential election in 2016.
Zakharova said the smoke was part of efforts to "preserve the building".
The note argues that conducting such a search in the absence of Russian officials is an "unprecedented, aggressive action" that unlawfully targets diplomats and could be used by USA intelligence services to provoke Russia.
"In relation to this, the windows could be closed, the light could be turned off, the water could be drained out, the heating appliances could be turned off, the garbage could be thrown away, essential services could be turned off and many other things", she wrote on social media.
