Turn in the march

The United States may demand from Russia to close one of the four consultations in response to a reduction in the staff of the American embassy and the arrest of a number of real estate objects. It is reported by "Kommersant" with reference to Russian diplomatic sources.

Currently, four Russian Consulate Generals are working in the United States-in New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Houston. At the same time, in Russia there are only three such American diplomaticians - in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok. Negotiations on the opening of the fourth were conducted, but as a result, the United States refused these plans.

What exactly their Russian representative offices will be closed, the sources of the publication did not specify. They also found it difficult to answer the question of how a decrease in the number of consulates would affect the procedure for registering Russian visas for Americans.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump expressed gratitude to Vladimir Putin for the decision to reduce the number of employees of the American diplomatic mission in Russia, reports Reuters.

“So we will save a lot of money,” Trump said, speaking in a golf club in New Jersey. “I want to him (Putin. - Ed.) Thank you because we are just trying to reduce the costs of staff. And as for me, I am grateful to him that he freed quite a lot of people, and now we have less expenses.”

On July 28, Russia, in response to the law on the new US sanctions, suspended the use by the American Embassy of the cottage in the village of Serebryany Bor in the west of Moscow and warehouses on the road street. In addition, Moscow demanded that Washington reduce the number of diplomats and technical employees at the embassy, ​​as well as the Consulate General of up to 455 people - this is how many employees are now working in Russian diplomatic mission in the United States. According to Putin, Russia will reduce 755 employees of American representative offices.

On July 31, the State Department called the inappropriate expulsion of American diplomats . “These actions are not justified and regret,” the department said.

On Monday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, after negotiations with the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrome, said that the US administration would develop a response to the steps taken by Russia by September 1 . However, according to Tillerson, Washington has not yet decided which answer will follow the Demarch of Russia. Tillerson noted that in the negotiations he asked Lavrov “several clarifying questions” about the expulsion of diplomats.

Tillerson noted that Russia's intervention in the American presidential election in 2016 "created a serious distrust" between the two countries. However, the Secretary of State said, the parties must find a way to "cope with this."

In turn, Lavrov on the eve said that Russia is ready for negotiations with the United States on the DPRK, Syria, Ukraine and other problematic issues, despite the deterioration of relations. According to him, the parties agreed to restore the diplomatic communication channel suspended due to sanctions at the level of deputy heads of foreign policy departments, and Washington will send his special representative in Ukraine Kurt Volker. According to Lavrov, there is no alternative to continue negotiations.