WASHINGTON, September 5. /TASS/. The claims made by the US Embassy in Moscow that Russia refuses to grant visas to new consuls is perplexing, the press service of the Russian Embassy in Washington told TASS on Wednesday.

"The information published on the website of the US Embassy in Moscow about our 'unwillingness' to grant visas to newly appointed US consuls is perplexing. This is a lie," the press service said. "We did not expect such misinformation from US colleagues working in Moscow who know exactly how it really is," the press service added.

The Russian embassy reminded that Washington was responsible for starting "a visa war" which seriously complicates the return of diplomatic missions' operation to stability. "The US Department of State still insists on the practice of personal linkages and exchanges when it comes to diplomats, including consuls. From our side, and the US Embassy in Moscow knows about it very well, we are trying to give priority to implementing the proposed 'exchange schemes' for consuls," the embassy noted.

Russia supports "soonest and full normalization of our cooperation on visas," the embassy stressed. "We are ready to move forward on this issue as far as Americans are ready to go. We express hope that our proposals will be heard in Washington," the embassy concluded.