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The U.S. security services intend to conduct a search at Russia's Consulate General in San Francisco on Saturday, which is a defiant move that creates a direct threat to the safety of Russian citizens and worsens the already difficult bilateral dialogue, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.
"With such provocative actions, the U.S. continues to burden the already difficult atmosphere of the bilateral dialogue, undermining opportunities for cooperation, including in the interests of solving pressing international problems," the ministry said in a statement.
The U.S. special services have decided to search the San Francisco Consulate General on September 2, "including apartments of the staff members who live in the building and enjoy diplomatic immunity, for which they and their families, including young children, even infants, were asked to leave the premises for 10 to 12 hours," the ministry said in the statement.
Calling the planned move an "invasion" into the homes of Russian diplomatic staff, the ministry accused the U.S. side of exacerbating the already battered bilateral relations.
On Thursday, the U.S. required Russia to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington and a consular annex in New York City by Saturday.
The ministry said the U.S. latest moves represent "a new extensive violation of international law", which even surpass the measures taken by Administration of Barack Obama in December 2016 expelling 35 Russian diplomats and seizing two Russian Properties.
"We strongly protest against Washington's actions that ignore international law and, as is common in diplomatic practice, we reserve the possibility of retaliatory measures. This is not our choice. They impose it on us," the ministry said.
The diplomatic row came at a low point of bilateral relationship between Washington and Moscow, as the two sides hold differences on a range of issues, including the war in Syria, the conflict in Ukraine, and U.S. accusations that the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, a charge Russia strongly denies.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
