MOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. Moscow is demanding consular access to two Russians detained in the United States - Dmitry Karpenko and Aleksey Krutilin, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for human rights, democracy and rule of law, Konstantin Dolgov has said on the round-the-clock TV news channel Rossiya-24.
"We will be pressing for the observance of the rights of our citizens, including procedural ones," Dolgov said. "Naturally, we will be demanding consular access to them."
The senior diplomat said obtaining official information would be the first step.
"Our consular officials keep this matter under control," he said.
"Judging by how the situation is unfolding, it looks like another incident, another violation of the bilateral agreement on legal assistance by the US," he said.
"If the information is confirmed then bilateral relations are set to be damaged even more," Dolgov added. "We have told the Americans many times that this practice significantly complicates bilateral relations, that are already strained."
According to Dolgov, the Russian diplomats are looking into the circumstances surrounding this incident. "Our consular officers have made statements that the US hasn’t yet officially informed them on the detention of the Russians, but according to the Consular Convention they are bound to do it in three days’ time. If it is not done than it will mean that the US authorities have once again violated the Consular Convention. Unfortunately, they are used to violating bilateral agreements and the rules of international law when Russian citizens are concerned," the Russian diplomat added.
According to earlier reports, the US arrested two Russians Dmitrii Karpenko and Alexey Krutilin on charges of illegal export of technologies from the United States.