WASHINGTON, December 3. /TASS/. Russia and the United States are failing to settle the problem of issuing visas to diplomats, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Friday.
"I know nothing about it, I haven’t heard about any breakthroughs - the word is very strong and powerful - I know nothing about any breakthroughs. I only know that we are in consultations with the United States, we are in constant contact, trying to find some solutions," he said. "So far, we are failing to do it."
The Washington Post reported earlier that US and Russian diplomats had reached preliminary agreements on granting Russian visas for employees of the US embassy in Moscow, calling it a "quiet breakthrough." The newspaper cited anonymous US officials as saying that preliminary agreements to this effect were reached during a meeting between US and Russian diplomats in Vienna. The agreements are yet to be approved by the sides. No further details were disclosed.
Meanwhile, the Russian ambassador stressed that the visa problem remains unresolved and the situation with the work of Russian diplomats in the United States is still "very difficult and uneasy." "Indeed, I confirm that 27 Russian diplomats are to leave the United States by January 30. Twenty-eight more people are to leave that country by June 30, 2022," Antonov said. "It is being done Jesuitically. Indeed, no one is saying that the diplomats and embassy employees are being expelled. But it is said that they must leave the United States, otherwise they would be stripped of their accreditations and the possibility of living a normal life as a regular employee of the diplomatic mission. As a matter of fact, they will be deprived of all rights. How else can it be called? It is de facto expulsion of our colleagues."
In response to the US sanctions and another expulsion of Russian diplomats, Moscow banned the US embassy from hiring Russian and foreign citizens. The US embassy said after that it would reduce the range of consular services, including considering the applications for visas other than those for diplomatic trips, from May 12. Visa issuance to diplomatic personnel slowed down considerably. Since August 1, the US embassy in Moscow has been working with only 120 employees, the lowest ever number over the past five years.
The Russian foreign ministry noted that the US embassy is free to fill the quota of 455 diplomats by employing US nationals.