Russia consulate shut: Moscow to give tough response to US, says foreign minister
The move by Washington was in response to Moscow’s decision to cut American diplomatic staff in Russia to numbers equalling Russian staff in the US and seizing two US properties in Moscow.
Moscow will give a tough response to hostile steps by the US, the country’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday after Washington ordered closing down of Russia’s Consulate General in San Francisco as well as a consular annexe in New York City.
“We will give a tough response to those things that hurt us absolutely without rhyme or reason, and which are dictated only by the desire to spoil our relations with the US,” Lavrov said in his address to students of the Moscow MGIMO international relations university.
“We will respond as soon as the assessment is complete,” he was quoted as saying by Tass news agency.
“I would like to point out it was not us who initiated this exchange of sanctions, but the (Barack) Obama administration. They sought to rupture Russian-US relations and prevent US President Donald Trump from putting forward any constructive proposals,” the Russian top diplomat stressed.
The move by Washington was in response to Moscow’s decision to cut American diplomatic staff in Russia to numbers equalling Russian staff in the US and seizing two US properties in Moscow.
Lavrov did not specify what Moscow’s next step could be, saying that the US statement was received in the early hours and was yet to be examined.