WASHINGTON, December 8. /TASS/. The presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, had no specific discussions about the issue of diplomatic missions and their functioning during their Tuesday’s talks, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.
"President Biden is open to creating functioning diplomatic missions in both countries, but he didn’t make any specific commitments with respect to the best pathway to do that," Sullivan said. "What he said was that, as leaders, President Biden and President Putin should direct their teams to figure out how we ensure that the embassy platform in Moscow is able to function effectively and as we believe the embassy platform here in Washington is able to operate effectively for the Russians."
In response to the anti-Russian sanctions announced by Washington in April and another expulsion of Russian diplomats, Moscow restricted the hiring of Russians and citizens of third countries by the US diplomatic missions. The US embassy in Moscow reported that from May 12 it would reduce the number of consular services, including suspending the consideration of documents for visas that are not intended for diplomatic travel. The issuance of diplomatic visas also slowed down visibly. Since August 1, the US embassy to Russia has been operating having 120 employees, the lowest number in five years. The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that the US embassy was not obstructed in filling the quota of 455 diplomats with employees from the United States.