Situation surrounding Russian ambassador's contacts in U.S. resembles McCarthyism era - Lavrov
MOSCOW. March 3 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sees the situation in the United States surrounding Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak's contacts as "a witch-hunt" resembling the McCarthyism era.
"All I can do is refer to a quote circulated by the media today: this all is very similar to a witch-hunt or the McCarthyism era, which we thought had been long gone in the United States as a civilized country," Lavrov said a press conference on Friday.
"Ambassadors are appointed for the sake of maintaining ties with the relevant state. Ties are maintained by means of meetings, conversations, contacts with both official representatives of the executive branch and parliamentarians, public figures and non-governmental organizations," he said.
"No one has ever contested this practice," Lavrov said.
As reported, earlier U.S. President Donald Trump spoke in defense of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, calling the illegal leaks of information regarding his employees and his alleged ties with Russia a 'total witch hunt'.