US diplomatic staff lose access to allotted parking spaces
Diplomats at the embassy in Moscow could use until most recently three parking lots by the entrance to their compound but these lots have also been deleted by now
MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/. The staff of the U.S. embassy in Moscow and three consulates in St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok - have lost the right to use allotted parking spaces nearby the compounds of their legations, Maria Olson, an official spokesperson for the embassy in Moscow told TASS on Thursday.
"It’s true that steps were taken to eliminate the parking spaces nearby the Consulates," she said when a reporter asked her.
Diplomats at the embassy in Moscow could use until most recently three parking lots by the entrance to their compound but these lots have also been deleted by now, Olson said.
In the meantime, a well-informed diplomatic source told TASS the Russian Consulates and missions in the U.S. had never had privileges in the form of specially allotted parking spaces.
"Parking spaces existed nearby the official residence of the Russian Ambassador but they were removed several months ago," the source said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier this week Moscow would bring the conditions for the U.S. legations in Russia to full parity with the ones for the Russian legations in the U.S.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov the leveling out of conditions for the Russian and American diplomatic missions should not trigger a yet another surge of emotions. "The case in hand is the vanishing of extra bonuses or preferences, which the U.S. diplomats have been using for some time," he said.