MOSCOW, April 08. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry has resolutely condemned NATO’s decision to restrict access of the personnel of the Russian mission to the headquarters of the North Atlantic pact.
NATO placed a report on a “decision to suspend all practical cooperation with Russia” on its homepage Monday, April 7. It said among other things that “(…) the formerly extensive access to NATO Headquarters will be denied to all representatives of the Russian Mission, except the Russian Ambassador, his Deputy Head of Mission, and two support staff.”
Should any other staff from the Russian Mission require access for official business, standard visitor rules will apply, the report said. “That means that the staff member will have to be announced, registered and escorted during their visits.”
“The decision will be subject to a condition-based review by NATO Foreign Ministers in June,” NATO said.
Russian Foreign Ministry said in its comment it had noted the placement of the report on NATO’s homepage.
“It looks like that NATO does not have any other more serious problems today than the access of Russian representatives to its headquarters,” it said. “Introduction of these restrictive measures against the diplomats confirms a yet another time that the North Atlantic alliance is incapable of rising above the mentality of the Cold War era and it prefers the language of sanctions to dialogue.”
The restrictions for the workers of the Russian mission took effect Tuesday, April 8.