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Russian PM signs order terminating ‘open lands’ memorandum with US

The dpcument allowed Russian and US diplomats to travel across different regions of each other’s countries without seeking permission

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin Alexander Astafyev/POOL/TASS

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin

© Alexander Astafyev/POOL/TASS

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has signed an order on the termination of the "open lands" memorandum of understanding between Russia and the US, which allowed Russian and US diplomats to travel across different regions of each other’s countries without seeking permission, simply through providing notification. The document was published on Thursday on the official legal information portal.

The document orders "to accept the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, approved by the involved federal bodies of executive power, to terminate the memorandum of understanding on "open lands" between the government of the Russian Federation and the government of the United States of America, signed in Washington on June 17, 1992," the document says.

"The Russian Foreign Ministry will inform the American side of this decision," the order reads.

On April 16, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, commenting on US sanctions against Russia, that Moscow would denounce the memorandum of understanding on "open lands" as a response measure. The minister reminded that in accordance with the document, certain categories of diplomats, from counselors and all the way down, are supposed to notify the authorities of the host country each time they plan a trip beyond the 25-mile zone around the general consulate’s host city. According to Lavrov, the Americans "completely ignored" this requirement. "Possibly, we will treat the diplomats’ requests for trips beyond the defined zone of residence on an individual basis," he said.

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