WASHINGTON, February 1. /TASS/. The US authorities continue to violate the inviolability of Russia’s diplomatic property, the Russian embassy in the US said in a statement.
"Despite all international obligations, American authorities continue to violate inviolability of our diplomatic property, they do not allow to check its security," the statement reads.
"Such American stand is unacceptable. Our grave concern about the state of the Russian property remains. The fact that the Russian Ambassador is not allowed to enter the buildings which belong to the Russian Federation is unmotivated. These hostile actions of the US have neither logic, nor reason," the statement adds.
According to the Russian embassy, "promises made by Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Michael Evanoff that our properties are fine cannot be trusted. If they want to dispel our concerns they should allow us access to these buildings."
Diplomatic property issue
On September 2, the US authorities closed down Russia’s Consulate General in San Francisco, trade mission in Washington and its New York branch, which Russia had been leasing. The first two facilities are Russia’s state property and have diplomatic immunity. Moscow considered the seizure of its diplomatic facilities to be an openly hostile act and urged the US authorities to immediately return them.
On September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Foreign Ministry had been instructed to file a lawsuit over the seizure of the diplomatic property with a US court.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said later that the lawsuit was being prepared and would be brought to court in the near future.