UNITED NATIONS, June 28. /TASS/. The United Nations called on the United States to comply with the host country's obligations amid allegations of psychological coercion imposed by the US intelligence services on the staff of Russia's permanent mission to the international organization, according to Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Farhan Haq.
"The only thing I'd have to say on that is that we are frequently in touch with the US as the host country, and we would call on the host country to abide by all of its commitments in terms of how foreign delegations are treated," he said.
Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Maria Zabolotskaya said earlier that US intelligence agencies seek to put psychological pressure on members of the Russian permanent mission to the United Nations. "The updated information that we have received makes it clear that the US continues to implement a whole set of measures and restrictions towards our permanent mission and its members, which are aimed at reducing the effectiveness of our interaction with the UN and putting psychological pressure on Russian diplomats," she said.
"There is no other way to explain the increasingly intrusive recruitment approaches of the host country’s intelligence services, whose officers come up to the mission members on the street and at the airport. Moreover, they use contextual ads on social media, search engines, including Yahoo, and on video hosting platforms in order to call for cooperation with the FBI," the Russian deputy permanent representative noted. "It’s not just about the Internet. Propaganda leaflets of similar content are regularly put up outside the permanent mission’s building and its residential compound, as well as along our diplomats’ way to work," Zabolotskaya added.