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Diplomat vows Moscow won’t turn blind eye to arrest of Russians at US request

A Russian diplomat says the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance openly neglected by the American side
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov  Artiom Korotaev/TASS
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov
© Artiom Korotaev/TASS

HELSINKI, September 12. /TASS/. Russia will not remain indifferent to the abductions and arrests of Russian citizens in third countries at the request of the United States, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters on Tuesday following two-day consultations with Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon.

"We just cannot remain indifferent to the de facto abductions of Russian citizens, to their continuing arrests in third countries under US warrants," he said.

"There are mechanisms for bilateral cooperation, the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance openly neglected by the Americans. There is the bilateral consular convention. There is an understanding of how and when to notify the Russian side in such situations. Unfortunately, all that remains a theory and is not used by the Americans on the practical level as a tool, which should be used, if they have questions to our citizens," the high-ranking diplomat stated.

"We used the possibility to analyze what happened, point by point, in a most thorough manner and show Americans the absolute unlawfulness of their actions, as well as demonstrate with specific examples the groundlessness of their accusations against us and attempts to actually pass the buck regarding the chain of events that have to be addressed and that we all witnessed," Ryabkov said.