Reciprocity principle: in the USA, they are afraid of Russia's response to restrictions on Russian diplomats

In the administrative and budgetary administration of the White House, the United States expressed concern about one of the sections of the law on budgetary appropriations for national defense for the 2020 financial year. This section deals with travel notifications for Russian diplomatic mission employees in the United States. Corresponding letter and. about. Department directors Russell Vout sent to the Senate Committee on Armed Forces.

“The administration has concerns about section 10705, according to which the state will be required to file notifications of trips of Russian diplomatic staff to the United States. Such a demand will push Russia to tighten its own restrictions on travel of American diplomats, as well as undermine their ability to work freely on its territory in order to promote US interests, ”the document says.

The document, which Vaught comments in his letter, states that the Secretary of State is obliged to "seek from the Russian Federation notifications in his name about every trip of her accredited diplomatic and consular personnel throughout the United States." Moreover, notifications should be given at least two business days before the date of the trip, and the head of the Department of State should “take the necessary measures to ensure full compliance with the rules on the part of Russian personnel and to combat all manifestations of non-compliance with them.” In addition, he must transmit the information received from the Russian side to the heads of the FBI and National Intelligence within an hour.

It is worth noting that the need to create a mechanism for notifying the movement of Russian diplomatic personnel in the United States was noted in earlier documents. So, to develop such a system was prescribed in section 502 of the law on budgetary appropriations for exploration for the 2017 financial year.

Currently, the law on budgetary allocations for national defense for the 2020 fiscal year has been approved by the Senate.

As professor of the Russian Foreign Ministry Diplomatic Academy Lev Klepatsky noted in a conversation with RT, according to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, informing about the arrival of Russian diplomats in the United States or American diplomats in Russia is a common mechanism of relations. However, the Americans' demand to report the movement of Russian diplomatic staff in the United States will only lead to a deterioration in relations between states.

“The Americans are trying to restrict the freedom of movement of Russian diplomats across the United States. Such things are usually done on a reciprocal basis. Unfortunately, in this case, Washington is restoring the practice of Soviet-American relations during the Cold War, when the movement of diplomats across the country was regulated, ”he stressed.

• US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
• Reuters
• © Cathal McNaughton

Lack of logic

The head of the Center for Political Studies of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Boris Shmelev, also emphasized in an interview with RT that diplomatic staff work in a particular country on the basis of relevant international agreements and treaties. At the same time, Moscow always adheres to the principle of mirroring.

“If in America they create problems for our diplomats and seek to limit freedom of movement, then, accordingly, we will act symmetrically. This is a general rule in relations between states in this regard, the principle of reciprocity - if you create problems, we also create them. For example, Moscow imposed certain restrictions after Russian diplomats were expelled, ”the expert noted.

According to him, in general, today many of the actions of the US leadership and the various special services in relation to Russia do not differ in logic.

“There is an escalation of tension in our relations, so some reasonable part of the American establishment is beginning to fear that this might lead our relations into a dead end and create problems for American diplomacy,” the expert concluded.

The Grossest Violation of the Vienna Conventions

In 2016, the Barack Obama administration adopted another package of anti-Russian sanctions due to alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election and pressure on American diplomats who worked in the Russian Federation. So, several dozen Russian diplomats were expelled from the United States, and they also closed access to the dachas of the Permanent Mission of Russia in New York. In 2017, the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco was also closed.

In the same year, Moscow in response ordered the State Department to reduce the number of employees of American diplomatic missions in Russia by 755 people, equalizing it with the number of Russian diplomatic staff in the United States. In addition, on August 1, Russia suspended the use by the US Embassy of all storage facilities in Moscow and cottages in Serebryany Bor.

As the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted, Washington’s steps, including searches by the US intelligence agencies of immunity facilities, were a gross violation of the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations and the bilateral consular convention.

“The Russian side again protested in connection with hostile actions by the United States and an encroachment on diplomatic immunity. It is indicated that the conditions for the stay of American diplomats in Russia are brought into line with the restrictions set for our representatives, ”the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement said.

In 2018, the United States decided to send 60 Russian diplomats and also close the Russian Consulate General in Seattle due to the alleged involvement of Moscow in the poisoning of former GRU officer Sergei Skripal in the UK.

In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry declared 60 US diplomats persona non grata and announced the closure of the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg.