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Russia hopes that US will not pursue political gambits in Syria and Venezuela

Moscow hopes that Washington will not pursue foreign ventures in Syria and Venezuela in an attempt to distract public attention from the consequences of the ongoing federal government shutdown

Russian embassy in Washington AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Russian embassy in Washington

© AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

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WASHINGTON, January 25. /TASS/. The Russian side hopes that the American administration will not pursue foreign ventures in Syria and Venezuela in an attempt to distract public attention from the consequences of the ongoing federal government shutdown, the Russian Embassy in the US said in a statement released on Thursday.

"It is sad that the US Secretary of State’s attempt to cheer up his diplomats, who are forced to fulfill their duties without a paycheck, dumbed down, just as always, to an aspiration to offend Russia, in this particular case - ‘Vladimir Putin's government that never shuts down’. There are seemingly no reasonable arguments for his subordinates in Michael Pompeo's arsenal," the Russian embassy said.

"The only thing left is to hope that the US Administration will not pursue foreign ventures, for instance, in Syria or Venezuela in attempt to shift public opinion from the aftermath of the shutdown. We wish our colleagues in the US Department of State resilience and hope to continue our dialogue on the most pressing issues of bilateral and global agenda, on which international security and strategic stability depend. We are ready for such work," the embassy concluded.

Speaking earlier about the way the American diplomats are performing their duties across the world under suspended government operations in an interview with Fox News, Pompeo noted that representatives for the Department of State throughout the globe know that the Russian government never suspends its operations.

The operation of the US government was partially suspended on December 22, 2018, due to a lack of budget funding. It happened because the Republicans and the Democrats in Congress did not manage to hammer out a temporary state budget in which Trump and the Republicans want to earmark more than $5 billion for the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico on a non-negotiable basis. The Democrats state that they will not approve the allocation of such a large sum from the budget. Accordingly, they are ready to offer just $1.3 billion.

Nine US departments, including the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security, staffed with 800,000 employees were left without any financing. The Congress earlier managed to approve the allocation of funds for other government departments until late September.

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