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Russia takes legal action over US seizure of Russian diplomatic property

Moscow has interpreted the seizure of its assets as an openly hostile act

Consulate-General of Russia in San Francisco AP Photo/Eric Risberg

Consulate-General of Russia in San Francisco

© AP Photo/Eric Risberg

MOSCOW, January 15./TASS/. Russia has completed preparations for pursuing in court the US over the seizure of Russian diplomatic property, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told his annual news conference on Monday.

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"I have not mentioned here an unprecedented incident, the seizure of Russian diplomatic property. We are now launching legal proceedings, preparations have already been completed," the diplomat said.

On September 2, the US authorities closed down Russia’s consulate-general in San Francisco, trade mission in Washington and its branch in New York, which Russia had been using on lease terms. The two first facilities on the list are Russian property and enjoy diplomatic immunity. Moscow has interpreted the seizure of its assets as an openly hostile act and urged the US authorities to urgently return them.

Speaking at a news conference in Xiamen, China, on September 5 Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Foreign Ministry to take the case over the seizure of Russian diplomatic property to a US court. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov later said that the work on the lawsuit was in progress and it would be filed in the near future.

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