Foreign Ministry outraged by 'mentoring tonality' of U.S. statements about political prisoners in Russia
SAMARA. June 20 (Interfax) - Moscow has taken note of the statement the U.S. Department of State released on June 18 about political and religious prisoners being held by the Russian government, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"Attempts to force the highly idiosyncratic U.S. understanding of 'human rights' upon other states is in itself, essentially, a very gross violation of the universal civil norms of conduct on the international stage," Zakharova said at a briefing in Samara on Wednesday.
Washington should "drop this mentoring tonality in its statements about Russia," she said, noting that "Russia simply does not need such sermons."
In its statement, the State Department voiced concern following claims by the U.S. authorities that the number of political prisoners in Russia is on the rise.