"The responsibility lies with the American side": the Russian embassy accused the United States of starting a "visa war"

The Russian Embassy in Washington said that the American authorities are fully responsible for the "visa war" that prevents the work of American diplomatic missions in Russia.

Thus, the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation responded to the article of The Washington Post, which reported about the difficulties with the staffing of the US Embassy in Moscow, since protracted negotiations are supposedly required to obtain diplomatic visas.

“The information contained in the article does not correspond to the real state of affairs.

We would like to remind once again that the responsibility for the "dead end" rests entirely with the American side.

It was the United States that became the initiators of the so-called.

"Visa war", imposed on us the practice of personal visa exchanges, when employees of Russian foreign missions receive entry permits only in conjunction with the issuance of visas for American workers, "- says the commentary of the Russian Embassy, ​​published on Facebook.

The Russian diplomatic mission stressed that they did not refuse to apply for visas to diplomats and other specialists from US missions.

Moscow operates on the basis of reciprocity, and the number of visas issued to American officials corresponds to the number of visas received by Russian employees in the United States, the embassy added.

“We have repeatedly called on Washington to fully normalize our relations in the consular and visa area.

There is no need to shift the problem from a sore head to a healthy one.

The ball is on the American side, ”the Russian embassy stressed. 

Household difficulties

We will remind, the newspaper The Washington Post published an article about the difficulties in the work of the US Embassy in Moscow.

"The already deplorable state of Russian-American relations has deteriorated so much that Washington cannot obtain visas for technicians who must come to Russia to repair faulty elevators and fire alarms at US diplomatic missions," the newspaper said.

The staff of the US Embassy in Moscow is allegedly understaffed and overworked, since each individual diplomatic visa requires protracted negotiations, in which the smallest details create obstacles, explains The Washington Post, citing unnamed State Department officials.

This leads to situations where senior diplomats are tasked with basic tasks such as clearing snow.

In addition, they are sharing the responsibility for treating surfaces with disinfectants with the dwindling cleaning staff fighting the coronavirus pandemic, officials said. 

Let us remind you that earlier the American side decided to close the consulate in Vladivostok and suspend the work of the consulate in Yekaterinburg "to optimize the work of the US diplomatic mission in the Russian Federation."

"The resulting reorganization of the diplomatic staff at the US Embassy in Moscow will allow us to promote our foreign policy interests in Russia in the most efficient and safe way," the State Department spokesman commented on the TASS news agency.

This decision was commented on by the US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan.

“The decision we have made is part of a broader problem in Russian-American diplomatic relations, which has grown into the so-called“ visa deadlock ”.

We cannot ensure that American diplomats and technical specialists were issued visas to work in our consulates in Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok, as well as in the embassy in Moscow, ”the Washington Post quoted US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan as saying.

• Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America (USA) John Joseph Sullivan

• RIA News

• © Valery Melnikov

At the same time, a number of former American envoys to Russia criticized Washington's decision to close consulates.

“I don’t know what this is, if not damage to American interests.

It was in our interest to get to know and establish contacts with the Russian authorities at the local level outside the Kremlin.

This is no less important today than ever, ”said James Collins, who in 1992, as US Ambassador to Moscow, oversaw the opening of the American consulate in Vladivostok.

This position is shared by the former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, who called the decision to close the diplomatic missions "a huge mistake" and expressed the hope that this decision will be reversed during the Joe Biden administration.

Mirror measures

The "diplomatic war" between the US and Russia began in December 2016.

Then outgoing President of America Barack Obama announced the expulsion from the United States of 35 Russian diplomats and their family members.

The reason was the alleged involvement of Russia in hacker attacks during the 2016 presidential elections.

Also, the American side closed access to two diplomatic dachas in Maryland and New York.

In the summer of 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that 755 American diplomats and employees of diplomatic missions would have to leave the country so that the number of foreign policy officials in both countries would be reduced to a parity of 455 people.

So many Russian diplomats and technical specialists worked at that time in the United States.

• U.S. Consulate General in Vladivostok

• RIA News

• © Vitaly Ankov

In response, the US State Department demanded the closure of the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco, as well as the trade mission in Washington and the premises of the trade mission in New York.

In March 2018, the United States expelled another 60 Russian diplomats from the country and closed the Russian consulate in Seattle.

In response, Russia announced the expulsion of 60 American diplomats and the withdrawal of consent to the work of the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg.

The United States demonstrates its unwillingness to improve relations with Russia and is technically trying to complicate work in the field of these relations, Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in a conversation with RT.

“They create all the obstacles for the normal functioning of the diplomatic service.

They create obstacles to the normalization of bilateral relations at all levels.

This demonstrates the reluctance of the United States to establish a dialogue between the countries, ”the expert stressed.

According to the political scientist, such a low level of diplomatic relations between the United States and Russia was not observed even during the Cold War.

“Then they were at a higher level.

Despite the fact that there was a cold war, the American elites had a dialogue with the Soviet Union, they wanted to communicate, there was a red straight line.

But then there was no stream of dirt, fakes and misinformation.

Now there is an open lie against our country.

It is quite possible that this is due to the fact that the political elites of the United States are becoming shallower, ”believes Konstantin Blokhin.

The current difficulties of American diplomats in Russia are a consequence of the policy of Washington, which initiated this process in 2016-2017, Andrei Sidorov, head of the department of international organizations and world political processes at the Faculty of World Politics at Moscow State University, said in a commentary to RT.

He recalled that the seizure of Russian diplomatic property in the United States was contrary to international law.

Now the American side is in difficulty, since the retaliatory steps of Moscow influenced the style of work that is customary for the US State Department, the expert explained.

“Americans are used to having a large diplomatic mission in any country.

In Russia, apart from diplomats, they need a large number of service personnel.

In addition, it is typical for Americans that people who are not involved in foreign policy work under the auspices of diplomatic missions.

This is not only intelligence, but also curators of non-governmental organizations, relations with civil society structures, etc.

The reduction of diplomatic personnel leads to the fact that this sphere of activity at the embassies is practically disappearing, ”said Andrei Sidorov.

It is no coincidence that the Americans, liquidating two representative offices in Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok, are concentrating everything in Moscow, the political scientist emphasized.

“For Americans, this is important.

This is one of the ways to influence the situation in the country, ”the expert noted.

In turn, Konstantin Blokhin stressed that by publishing such materials, the American side wants to remove itself from responsibility for the situation and shift it to Russia. 

“This shows the interest of the elites in the deterioration of US-Russian relations.

All our attempts to meet halfway are blocked or perceived as an indicator of our weakness.

This is a rather primitive approach, they do not want to understand that the fate of the whole world literally depends on these relations, and these relations should be maintained at a high level regardless of which administrations come to power in Washington, ”the political scientist concluded.