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Washington may staff Moscow embassy with American citizens — Ambassador

Anatoly Antonov stressed that the implementation of the Russian "countermeasure towards US missions" is aimed precisely at restoring the "balance of diplomatic presence - the Russian one in the US and the American one in Russia"

WASHINGTON, August 3. /TASS/. Russia does not prohibit the US to fully use the 455 employee quota for the Embassy in Russia and it expects visa requests for US citizens that would replace the "local personnel," Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov told journalists Monday.

He commented on US allegations that Russia complicates the operation of US diplomatic missions and that these missions are unable to perform certain functions.

"This is totally false," Antonov said. "Nobody prohibits Washington from fully using the 455 employee quota set up earlier. We are ready to carefully review all incoming applications," he explained.

"We expect visa requests for Americans that would replace the US embassy’s ‘local personnel,’ from consulate diplomats to drivers," the envoy said, adding that "there will be no automatic" decisions.

"In this case, we propose an honest equivalent exchange of visas," Antonov said.

He added that the implementation of the Russian "countermeasure towards US missions" is aimed precisely at restoring the "balance of diplomatic presence - the Russian one in the US and the American one in Russia."

Starting on August 1, the US embassy in Russia is working with its smallest staff in five years - 120 employees. This happened due to restrictions regarding employment of citizens of Russia and third countries, imposed by the Russian authorities in response to the anti-Russian sanctions, introduced in April. That time, the US side expelled 10 Russian diplomats, claiming their connection to Russian intelligence.

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