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Russia will never drop its demand for return of its diplomatic property in US — ambassador

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

MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. Moscow will never drop its demand that Washington return Russian diplomatic property in the United States, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with the Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily that came out on Monday.

"Our country will be able to administer Russian property in the United States when Washington returns to the implementation of its international liabilities. As for us, we will never drop our demand that Russian diplomatic property be returned to us," he said,

He stressed that the problem of unblocking access to Russia’s diplomatic property needs to be resolved by "political and diplomatic means." "The US authorities blocked access to diplomatic property having blatantly violated international law, in particular the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Local courts are not authorized to consider such cases. That is why the problem is to be settled by political and diplomatic means," he added.

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).

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