“The United States is doing everything possible to ensure that there are no more concessions and that” gifts “to the Russian Federation”
Russia-US diplomatic relations are in serious strain. The US State Department responded to the words of Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov about restrictions on Russian diplomatic personnel and recalled the possibility of extending visas. At the same time, a Russian diplomat said earlier that Moscow had received a list of 24 diplomats who must leave the United States by September 3. The expert outlined the prospects for this situation for the Ministry of Culture.
Photo: Still from video
On Monday, August 2, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price said that Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov's statements were “inaccurate,” the media reported. In addition, he noted that staff of the Russian diplomatic mission in the United States may request an extension of their visas, which will be assessed individually.
Earlier, Russia's ambassador to Washington told The National Interest that at the end of 2020, the United States had imposed a three-year work restriction on Russian diplomatic mission staff. Anatoly Antonov also stressed that Moscow even received a list of 24 diplomats who were ordered to leave the United States before September 3.
According to the Chief Researcher of the US-Canada Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Vasiliev , the latest information from the diplomatic front does not raise much optimism about the implementation of the agreements reached at the Russian-US summit in Geneva just a month and a half ago.
“These agreements can be conditionally divided into easy to implement and problematic, which in some cases are not in sight,” comments the expert. – The latter include in particular the situation in Afghanistan and the fight against international terrorism. Neither Russia nor the United States has full leverage and control over them.
As for the diplomatic sphere, it is precisely the one that the parties completely control. In addition, all diplomatic frictions can be lifted very easily. And you don't have to wait for any legislative action to do that.
Even the US Congress, which is poking its nose everywhere, in this case does not focus its attention on the work of diplomatic units. Senators and congressmen are wondering why there are so few African Americans abroad at US embassies abroad, at least in leadership positions.
Agreement on the form of work of consular departments, recruitment, number of diplomatic staff and their movement can therefore be reached in an operational state at the level of interaction between the foreign agencies of the two countries.
Unfortunately, recent events once again prove that the problem, which can be easily solved, is intentionally even more complicated. This is due to the fact that it is in the diplomatic sphere that the “donkey ears” of the US State Department are most pronounced.
The point is that there are serious differences in the positions of the White House, the State Department or those responsible for foreign policy.
For example, the State Department believes that this is all a political situation that is necessary for US leader Joe Biden and his administration to pursue their own long-term or medium-term interests. But from the point of view of American diplomacy, this is not so important and necessary.
In this situation, it is not the American side as a whole that is working, but the sabotage role of the State Department, and that is very clearly traceable.
It is no coincidence that even the latest Russian-American diplomatic scandal is commented on by representatives of this particular ministry. Yes, some points were, of course, agreed with the White House, but the decision itself, as I understand it, was made at the level of the US State Department. “
According to the expert, the Americans may be sending certain signals in this way, related to the fact that the United States is still on the list of “states hostile to the Russian Federation.”
This, most probably it worries and insults Washington. Especially against the background of the fact that the Russian side has not yet taken steps to exclude the US from this list.
“Thus, a background is being created against which it is relatively difficult to imagine that Russian-American diplomatic relations will face rapid positive changes,” Vladimir Vasiliev continues. – Most likely, the parties will simply try to keep them at least as they are.
Moreover, in the United States, especially after the Nord Stream 2 agreements, there is indeed a view that Russian-American diplomatic relations are waiting for some improvement. At the same time, it must be understood that the success of this agreement is only thanks to German diplomacy. Of course, the weakness of President Biden's administration also played a significant role in this process.
The fact that the decision to further implement the project today caused such a resonance is the main factor why diplomatic relations between the United States and the Russian Federation cannot be viewed positively in the future. When Americans see that improvements bring unilateral benefits to Russia, they are doing everything they can to ensure that these concessions and “gifts” no longer exist. “
Recall that in the spring, the ambassadors of Russia and the United States Anatoly Antonov and John Sullivan returned to their capitals. Washington has introduced another package of anti-Russian sanctions, which means the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats from the US embassy, as well as a ban on the participation of US financial institutions in the initial placement of Russian government debt, denominated in rubles.
The Russian authorities introduced the United States.
In mid-June, Joe Biden's first meeting as head of the White House and Russian President Vladimir Putin took place in Geneva. The leaders agreed to return the ambassadors to their posts and launched consultations on strategic issues. However, the summit did not lead to a significant improvement in Russian-American diplomatic relations, and as of August 1, the number of personnel of the US diplomatic mission in Russia has decreased by another 10 times. The US Embassy in Moscow will therefore have 120 employees. This is the minimum number of diplomats in the last 5 years.