U.S. actions with respect to Russian diplomatic sites "attempt to seize property" - Russian Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. Jan 12 (Interfax) - Moscow sees actions undertaken by the United States authorities with respect to Russian diplomatic sites as an attempt to seize Russian property, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"The United States has removed diplomatic immunity from these sites, the local press has leaked that Americans have already infiltrated the recreation facility of the permanent mission to the UN near New York, that businessmen are already eyeing the sites," Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.
"These actions can be called nothing else than an attempt to seize Russian property," she said.
The U.S. action undertaken unilaterally runs counter to the country's international commitments and hardly correlates "with the very notion of a modern state - a subject of international law," the spokeswoman said.
The removal of belongings from the grounds of Russian diplomats' recreation facilities in the states of Maryland and New York, which were also used for hosting protocol events, was carried out under control of U.S. intelligence agencies, Zakharova said.
"They dispersed even the day before, outside the fence, using dozens of vehicles, blocking the main and emergency entrances and setting up giant projectors along the perimeter... Drones and two helicopters with optical equipment were hovering in the air," she said, noting that this was reminiscent of a "blockbuster crime story."
Because of the time constraints, the Russian diplomats were unable to remove all Russian diplomatic belongings from the property, the spokesperson said.