The decision for the cottage

During the meeting of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Hamburg, the question of the return of the so-called embassy cottages in New York and Maryland rose, but was not decided. In this regard, Moscow is preparing retaliatory mirror measures - the expulsion of about 30 US diplomats and the arrest of American property in Russia, Izvestia reports citing sources in the Foreign Ministry.

However, in Moscow they still hope to reach an agreement on dachas. "There is a preliminary agreement on the meeting in St. Petersburg of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergei Ryabkov and the first US Department of Committee Tomas Shannon. If a compromise is not found there, we will have to go to such measures," the source in the foreign policy quoted the publication.

Russia and so waited six months with response measures to decide the previous US President Barack Obama, said Andrei Klimov, deputy head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs. According to him, Moscow understood that "it was the desire of Obama to spoil the beginning of Trump's presidency."

“But, unfortunately, for six months Trump either could not, or did not consider it important to correct the situation. And now we must bring the line and answer mirror. This is not our demonstration of the negative attitude to the Trump administration, this is just evidence that Russia is a respected power, to which we must show a respectful attitude. At the same time, it is necessary to observe the protocol, etiquette and other ways to communicate with Russia. Maybe, ”Klimov told the publication.

At the end of December, the United States gave Russian diplomats 24 hours to free both embassy cottages. As Obama said then, these cottages were used by Russian intelligence. At the same time, 35 diplomats were sent from the United States. This step followed in connection with Moscow’s intervention in the elections and persecution of American diplomats in Russia.

Then the Russian side did not take response. As the American media later claimed, Michael Flynn, then adviser to Trump, allegedly promised in a telephone conversation with the Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak that under the new administration the conflict would be resolved.

After Trump’s inauguration, the Russian side publicly protested against the “expropriation” of diplomatic property and threatened with response measures .

On June 1, The Washington Post reported that the US administration was going to return the embassy cottages to the Russian side . In early May, the American side linked this issue with the allocation of a site for the construction of a new US Consulate building in St. Petersburg. However, then Washington changed the position of which the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov at a meeting on May 10. It was noted that the American side, however, is considering the withdrawal of diplomatic immunity from the embassy cottages, which will open access there to law enforcement agencies.

On June 8, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova said at a briefing that in Moscow they were counting on the return of the embassy cottages . “If a situation arises when Washington does not resume the diplomatic immunity of our property, then the answer regarding American objects in Russia will be mirrored. The US Embassy in Moscow has already been warned about this,” she said. “We demand that we immediately return to us that it is completely illegal.”

On July 7, the first personal meeting of Putin and Trump was held on the sidelines of the G20 summit. It was reported that the presidents reached an agreement on a truce in the south-west of Syria and the creation of a joint Russian-American cybersecurity group. In addition, Trump also touched on the topic of Moscow’s intervention in the course of the last presidential campaign in the United States. In response, Putin asked to present evidence confirming such an intervention. The meeting also discussed the situation in Ukraine and issues of combating terrorism.

On Monday, Trump expressed doubt that the cybersecurity group would be formed. “The fact that President Putin and I discussed (creation. - Ed.) The cybersecurity group does not mean, I think this will happen,” the US president wrote on his Twitter.