Russia urges US to revive mutually respectful dialogue on visa issues, envoy says

WASHINGTON, August 3. /TASS/. Moscow expects a constructive approach to visa issues from Washington and calls for the resumption of an equitable and mutually respectful dialogue, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said on Monday evening answering questions from reporters. "It is time for our US counterparts to stop trickery and revive an equitable and mutually respectful dialogue that would take into account both states’ interests," the Russian Embassy quotes him as saying on its Facebook page. According to Antonov, Russia has repeatedly suggested "putting the diplomatic conflict to rest." "If the United States is not ready for ‘resetting’ all measures and countermeasures, we suggest using the ‘small steps’ tactics," he noted. The ambassador explained that he meant the exclusion of certain groups of employees from visa exchanges and agreements on a one-year extension of diplomats’ expired visas. "We outlined all these proposals back in February in a diplomatic note, but there was no response. Our initiatives were just ignored," he stressed. Antonov also noted that Moscow would never put up with the seizure of Russian diplomatic property in the US and would seek its return, "including in the course of consultations on bilateral "irritants."

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