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Russia’s top diplomat blasts Washington for breaching legal assistance treaty

Sergey Lavrov stressed that Russia was seeking to ensure that immediate access be granted to Russians in custody

MOSCOW, January 26. /TASS/. The United States is avoiding the fulfillment of the treaty with Russia on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a plenary session in the State Duma (the lower house of parliament) on Wednesday.

"We are seeking to ensure that immediate access be granted to these people [Russians in custody abroad]. Far-fetched pretexts are frequently used and there are outright provocations as is done by the United States with regard to our well-known citizens [Viktor] Bout, [Konstantin] Yaroshenko, [Roman] Seleznev and a whole number of other individuals," Russia’s top diplomat specified.

"There is a multi-aspect problem here, including the need to ensure the fulfillment of the treaties on legal assistance in criminal matters, which the United States categorically avoids and, in an outright breach of its commitments, simply does not inform us of those suspicions that arise for it with regard to our citizens, first of all, concerning cybercrimes," Lavrov emphasized.

Instead, Washington demands that Russians be arrested and extradited from the countries of their stay and "European countries, as a rule, cannot object to their senior on the other side of the Ocean," Lavrov stressed.

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