He recalled that 60 Russian diplomats and their family members were expelled from the United States in April 2018.
"Since the time when Russian diplomats were forced to leave the United States, the American side launched a visa war against us ... The Americans stopped issuing us visas for diplomats and administrative staff," RIA Novosti quotes Antonova.
He said that the United States "introduced a system of exchanges" and explained that for every Russian diplomat Russia would have to issue a visa to a diplomat from the United States, the same situation, he said, and with the staff of the administrative and technical staff.
Antonov said that this is the decision of the American side.
“Although I am firmly convinced that my colleagues at the American Embassy in Moscow, as well as we, are experiencing, of course, serious difficulties because we lack the diplomatic staff, the administrative and technical staff, to solve the main problems - straightening the Russian-American relations, ”added the ambassador.
In May, the United States denied a visa to several members of the Russian delegation, who were to take part in the work of the Third Preparatory Committee of the Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in New York, scheduled for 2020.