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US denies permission for special flight to carry Russian diplomats home — MFA

Such defiant behavior of the US authorities would not "go unanswered," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed

MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. Washington has not granted permission for a special flight of Russia’s state aircraft to the United States, which was supposed to take home employees of Russian diplomatic missions, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The US is continuing to systematically damage bilateral relations, which are already at their lowest ebb. Washington has distinguished itself in taking yet another hostile move against our country, by not granting permission for a special flight of Russian state aircraft to the United States, which was supposed to carry home employees of Russian foreign institutions and their families," the statement says.

"The Joe Biden administration has preferred to totally ignore the fact that it is actually a humanitarian action as our plane was supposed to fly in to take those of our colleagues whom the Department of State had earlier issued an ultimatum, ordering them to leave the United States by the end of this month," Zakharova added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman pointed out that such defiant behavior of the US authorities would not "go unanswered."

"As we have warned before, once a Russian special flight is denied entry, countermeasures, including asymmetrical ones, will inevitably follow, of which we will notify through diplomatic channels in accordance with the established procedure," the statement says.

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