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Russia to sue US over diplomatic property seizure — Lavrov

The Russian top diplomat says Moscow will file a lawsuit over the seizure of its diplomatic property in the United States

VLADIVOSTOK, September 6. /TASS/. Russia will file a lawsuit over the seizure of its diplomatic property in the United States and not the closure of its diplomatic mission, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"We are about to use legal proceedings because our property has been taken away. That the Russian state owns the buildings that have now been arrested has nothing to do with the United States’ right to grant or revoke permission to open diplomatic offices in its territory," he said.

"Our announcement to resort to judicial procedures has drawn a certain response from the United States. The Department of State said that a litigation would be inappropriate in this particular case, because the United States in accordance with its rights terminated permissions to the operation of our general consulate in San Francisco," Lavrov said. "It is true that any country has the right to revoke permission to the functioning of this or that diplomatic mission of this or that country," he explained.