XIAMEN/China/, September 4. /TASS/. Russia is in no hurry to find a response to Washington’s search and seizure of its diplomatic mission, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday.
"We won’t hurry up with any answers. In general, it is difficult in these situations when one comes up against hooliganism, to figure out what sort of response should be taken," Ryabkov explained.
"But we will find this reaction," Ryabkov stressed. The senior diplomat slammed the US steps against the closed Russian consulate in San Francisco and trade missions in New York and Washington as "state hooliganism."
Speaking on how hooligans should be treated, Ryabkov said: "One may try to call hooligans to order, especially those who possibly, due to some reasons, lost control of themselves and had behaved decently before."
"I don’t think there will be any hasty steps," he said.
Agents of US special services still remain on the premises of the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco, he went on.
"Representatives of US special services and law enforcement agencies have not so far left the building of the Consulate General in San Francisco, what is a provoking act," Ryabkov said.
"We have not faced before such far reaching and in every respect provoking attempts against fundamental norms of international law," he said.
"Noise is still heard. It is unclear what they are doing there," Ryabkov said.
The senior diplomat stressed that this was a search rather than an inspection. "No, these are searches, and the US side meant this from the very beginning," Ryabkov explained.
"In previous years, someone was called a state sponsor of international terrorism. I tend to call this state hooliganism," he said.