Allegations about U.S. diplomats harassed in Russia "fantasies" - ministry
MOSCOW. Oct 28 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry has warned the United States Department of State against negativity in bilateral relationships with allegations that Russia is harassing U.S. diplomats.
"We suggest our counterparts in the State Department should not be adding negativity to the already gloomy background in our relations. This is not the way to resolve problems, it only aggravates them," the ministry said in a commentary released on Tuesday.
"The information shown by the ABC News channel clearly with the help from the State Department about the psychological pressure ostensibly being exerted on the staff at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and their systematic intimidation, is hollow sound and disconnected from reality," the ministry said.
"The point is not even that the aired complaints can hardly reach the level of cheap spy fiction, they boil down to banal fantasies over some e-mail hacking, punctured tires and mysterious break-ins into flats. What is outrageous is the presumptuous and counterfactual assertion by the U.S. State Department spokesperson that unlike the Russians, the U.S. treats diplomats from Russia with utmost respect," said the Russian foreign ministry.
"(The U.S.) makes regular recruitment approaches to (Russian diplomats) and practices gross provocative techniques involving illegally acquired personal data, including health information of their family members," the ministry said.