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US must take steps to unblock situation over diplomatic missions - Russian diplomat

According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, it is necessary to be able to move toward normal relations with Russia

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. The United States must take practical steps to unblock the dead-end situation with the operation of the two countries diplomatic missions to be able to move toward normal relations with Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

"If they [the United States] want to move anywhere further, toward any future of normal bilateral relations, including in this sphere [normalization of the operation of diplomatic missions], they must take a series of practical steps to unblock the situation they have led to a dead end," she said in an interview with the Voskresny Vecher (Sunday Evening) with Vladimir Solovyov on the Rossiya-1 television channel.

When asked whether there are any chances that the crisis with the issuance of US visas and the situation with Russia’s diplomatic property in the United State could be resolved, Zakharova stressed that "this is not a chance, but a concrete task Mrs [US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria] Nuland left Russia with after her working visit in October.

On September 2, 2017, the United States’ authorities closed Russia’s consulate general in San Francisco, the trade mission in Washington and its rented office in New York. The former two facilities are Russia’s government property and enjoy diplomatic immunity. Moscow described the seizure of Russian diplomatic property as an openly hostile step and called on the United States to immediately return these facilities. On March 26, 2018, Washington closed Russia’s consulate general in Seattle (rented premises) and the consul general’s residence (Russia’s property).