Russia-U.S. dialogue on work of embassies

The Russia-U.S. dialogue on resuming the normal process of work of diplomatic missions sees no progress, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

He added that Washington made attempts to pressure Moscow in order to bargain one-sided advantages for itself.

“We have a bilateral dialogue with regard to diplomatic personnel, but it is not moving anywhere. There is no progress whatsoever,’’ Lavrov told reporters.

The minister recalled that Moscow had asked Washington to bring the composition of the embassy in line with the number of Russian diplomats in the U.S. and in line with new requirements not to employ third-country nationals.

And that also in particular, to Russian personnel who performed essentially diplomatic functions.

“We have now declared parity. They said that they did not have enough people, so they were forced to close the consulate general and were forced to practically freeze all work on issuing visas.

“These are again attempts at indecent pressure and attempts to bargain some unilateral advantages for themselves,’’ Lavrov added.