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Russian diplomats, working at representations in US, are settled - ambassador

The Russian side is not interested in further aggravation of the relations with the US, Russia’s Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said

MOSCOW, September 24. /TASS/. The Russian diplomats, who had to leave the Russian representations in Washington, San Francisco and New York following the US sanctions, are accommodated and settled, Russia’s Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with NTV’s weekly program on Sunday.

"The biggest problem for me, of course, was how to help out the people who lived in San Francisco, who work in New York. In Washington, of course, easier as we had the embassy there. I was most concerned about San Francisco. We have accommodated them, settled, as there were families with very little children," he said. "For me this is most important - with all the importance of the property problem."

The Russian side is not interested in further aggravation of the relations with the US, he said. "I hope this stage of exclusion [will be over] - I will do everything from my side."

On September 2, the United States authorities seized the buildings of Russia’s consulate general in San Francisco and a trade mission in Washington, which are Russia’s property and enjoy diplomatic immunity. Apart from that, Russian personnel was denied access to the premises the Russian trade mission rents in New York. Moscow described the seizure of Russian diplomatic property in the United States as an openly hostile step and called on the US authorities to return the diplomatic facilities immediately.

Addressing a news conference after the BRICS summit in China’s Xiamen on September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to go to court over the seizure of Russia’s diplomatic property in the United States. "The American side has stripped Russia of the right to use its property - this is obvious violation of proprietary rights of the Russian side. To begin with I will issue instructions to the Foreign Ministry to take the case to court. Let us see how effectively the vaunted US judicial system works," Putin said.