The Russian Embassy in Washington has asked the US authorities to stop the persecution of the Russian diaspora, reports RIA News… This statement was made after the announcement that the Coordinating Council of Organizations of Russian Compatriots in the United States (KSORS) was forced to suspend its activities due to an investigation by the American special services.
The diplomats stressed that the United States is conducting hostile activities against the Russians, hiding behind suspicions of operating on American soil without registering as foreign agents. Moreover, it is noted that the FBI officers in a rude manner conducted searches and interrogated representatives of the diaspora, taking their personal belongings. The embassy said that they regard such steps as unfriendly towards Russia.
KSORS chairman Elena Branson also expressed the hope that the Americans will stop persecuting Russian foreign agents. She noted that at present there is a tendency towards an increase in the process of repatriation of Russians to their homeland.
Branson added that over the past year, as part of an investigation into violations of laws on foreign agents, American intelligence services interrogated several hundred of the most active representatives of the Russian diaspora in the United States. In her opinion, members of KSORS may be prosecuted.
The decision to close the organization was made due to the activities of the FBI in relation to KSORS. Throughout 2021, at least 300 Russians in the United States, from students to retirees, were subjected to FBI investigations, the council noted.
Conflicts arose in relations between Moscow and Washington more than once, spilling over into lengthy showdowns, mutual accusations and a number of restrictions. So, over the past few years, both parties to the negotiations were forced to expel part of their diplomatic staff, as well as to close a number of consulates.
At the end of December 2016, the administration of then US President Barack Obama expelled Russian diplomats and closed access to suburban residential embassy complexes in Maryland and New York City. Initially, Moscow left this step unanswered, counting on positive progress on this issue with the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House, but this did not happen.
455
employees
left after the Russian authorities demanded that the United States reduce the number of its diplomats in Russia by 755 people in June 2017
In early September 2017, at the request of the American authorities, the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco and trade missions in Washington and New York were closed, and in April 2018, the US leadership closed the Russian Consulate General in Seattle and demanded that the Consulate General’s residence in this city be vacated.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, in turn, said that Moscow has called for an increase in the number of employees of American consulates in Russia. He explained that such a step is necessary in order to normalize visa services at US diplomatic missions in Russia. He expressed the hope that the parties will soon be able to achieve some progress.
Sergei Leonidchenko, Russia’s representative to the Sixth Committee of the UN General Assembly, pointed out that the Russian delegation has been facing problems for more than four years, which are caused by the improper fulfillment by the United States of obligations under the Headquarters Agreement, adding that Moscow has asked the UN Secretary General for help due to problems with the issuance of US visas to diplomats.
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