"The aftertaste will be long"

The US Embassy in Russia announced the suspension of non -immigration visas in the Russian regions on August 23, 2017. On September 1, interviews for the issuance of visas will be held only at the US Embassy in Moscow, the US Embassy in Russia said . On August 21, the abolition of interviews appointed at consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok will begin.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that "Russia would not tear evilly at American citizens in response to the decision of the United States to suspend the issuance of American visas to the Russians." This was reported by the Interfax agency.

In addition, Lavrov is sure that America acts "in the line of the organization of color revolutions." "The first impression is that the American authors of these decisions started another attempt to cause the dissatisfaction of Russian citizens by the actions of the Russian government," said the Foreign Minister at a press conference in Moscow.

The decision of the American side is associated with a limitation of the number of employees of the diplomatic mission, which Moscow demanded in response to American sanctions.

The restrictions will be preserved until the regime of the state of diplomatic mission is valid. Consular fees for visas will be valid during the year.

Interviews for citizens of Belarus will be transferred to the embassies in Warsaw, Kyiv and Vilnius.

Consulates in the Russian regions will continue to provide services only to US citizens.

The press secretary of the Russian Union of Trade of Trade Irina Tyurina believes that the US decision to terminate the issuance of visas in the Russian regions will not lead to the collapse of the tourism industry, but will deliver a lot of additional troubles to people:

Visa registration deadlines can stretch for six months

-The USA is not among the most massive tourist destinations, according to the results of 2016, it is in this list in 24th place. But this decision will greatly affect the stream that is, and the terms of visa can be stretched for six months. Because now, for example, in Moscow, an appointment for an interview goes to November, and then everyone will be recorded only in Moscow. All this, of course, is said loudly, because I think that from Vladivostok, from Primorye, from the Far East, it is unlikely that anyone will fly to Moscow for a visa. Moreover, from there there is a direct air traffic with the United States, and before they did not have to fly the Urals at all in order to draw up a visa - they also made out, from there they flew away. From Yekaterinburg, it is quite possible to fly, some part, but much less, because you understand that it is necessary to fly, draw up a visa, spend the night somewhere, fly back, and then fly again to go to the USA, recalls Irina Tyurina.

In addition, the situation is complicated by the fact that earlier an interview for a visa could be held at any US consulate, regardless of the place of residence. Therefore, Muscovites often recorded an interview in St. Petersburg, because the line there moved faster. Now, all residents of St. Petersburg will be forced to sign up for an interview in Moscow, which, according to Irina Tyurina, will lead to an increase in queues and a sharp increase in the terms of visa design:

Both tourist and business flows in the US will become less

- Flights from Primorye and the Far East, apparently, will fly in the United States half -empty, since people will not travel for visas. In general, tourist life will become very sink. From the point of view of business, there are companies that specialize in the USA, and for them, of course, there will be a serious blow. And this will affect not only the tourist flow, I think, and the business, private flow will also become smaller. Because someone now has a three-year visa that the Americans give, but it will end, and how much this restriction is introduced, we do not know. And it is very problematic to arrange new visas, ”said Irina Tyurina, spokeswoman for the Russian Union of Trade of Trade.

On July 28, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that in response to the next American sanctions, the number of US diplomatic employees in Russia will be limited. As a result, the state of diplomatic mission will be reduced by more than 700 people. In addition, the Foreign Ministry demanded that the US Embassy in the Russian Federation on August 1 suspend the use of all warehouse premises on the road street in Moscow and a summer residence in Silver Bor.

On August 14, Washington said that he was considering reducing the radius of the movement of Russian diplomats working in the United States. Now the perimeter, inside of which employees of the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation can freely move, is 25 miles (about 40 kilometers). In case of tightening, this norm will be reduced to 10-15 miles (16–24 km).

Earlier, Russian media reported that the American authorities can announce the response measures to expel their diplomats from Russia by early September. In particular, the United States may require the Russian Federation to close one of the Russian Consulate Generals located on their territory.

Political scientist Nikolai Petrov believes that in the near future Russian-American relations are unlikely to be stabilized, and unpleasant consequences from the limitation of the issuance of visas will affect ordinary citizens who are not related to politics:

This is the result that was planned

- It is clear that with such a large reduction in employees, it doesn’t matter whether Americans or those who were hired here were, many embassies that require a large number of employees, such as the design, receipt of visas, will be carried out in other terms and in another volume. I think that this is the result, which, in principle, was planned. As for the response of the American side, we know that by the end of the year she promised to decide, and apparently this answer will be. I think that, ultimately, those citizens who last thought about such consequences will suffer. These are students who do not have time with the design of visas, and those who planned some trips,-Petrov believes.

He hopes that the escalation will not develop further, and at some point the country will move on to normalizing relations. But there is a little hope for this:

The last law signed by the US Congress suggests that the sanctions will remain for a long time

- I’m afraid that the background is extremely negative, and the last law , which was signed by the US Congress, suggests that these tough and difficult to regulate sanctions, difficult to cancel and not canceled in parts, will remain for a long time. A closed meeting of representatives of the American and Russian administration on regulation problems will be held in Minsk, and we can hope that some positive decisions will be made there. But, unfortunately, I think that in terms of normalizing the work of embassies and ours in the USA and them here, this aftertaste will be very, very long, ”said political analyst Nikolai Petrov.

In December 2016, the United States sent 35 Russian diplomats from the country after the exploration report on Moscow’s intervention in the election campaign.