The State Department closed Russian diplomatic buildings - the Kremlin promised response measures. But what about international law?

The arrival of the new ambassador of the Russian Federation, Anatoly Antonova, coincided with the request of the State Department for 48 hours to close the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco and two buildings of trade missions in Washington and New York.

This was announced in a telephone conversation by Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. But first, the head of the American Foreign Ministry reported to the Russian colleague that Washington had fulfilled the demand of Moscow and reduced the number of employees of the diplomatic mission in Russia to 455 people.

In addition, the meeting was held Assistant to the Secretary of State and Eurasia John Hefferen and the adviser-criminal Dmitry Zhirnov, where the United States reported the measures taken and demanded that the Russian Federation fulfill its requirements.

The new Antonov’s Songs of the Russian Federation, the American media noted, had to comment directly at the Washington airport. He referred to Lenin: "Speaking of Leninsky, we do not need hysterical impulses." An unexpected source of citation: as if the circle of history dismissed immediately half a century ago.

Do you want parity?

After a new ball launched by the American side in this diplomatic kegelban (reducing the number of diplomats and their buildings in the territory of both countries), the situation in Moscow and Washington see completely differently.

The State Department notes: the decision of Moscow to reduce almost half the number of American diplomats was "unreasonable and harmful." Washington emphasizes: Moscow wanted to triumph the “Parity Principle”, now-after the reduction of the consulate in San Francisco-both sides have the same number of consulates and diplomats. In the United States, in addition to the embassy in Washington, three Russian consulates continue to work: in New York, Houston and Seattle. As a high -ranking representative of the administration noted in a telephone briefing, Russia still has more diplomatic and embassy buildings in America (counting all service premises and extensions) than the United States in Russia. Now, the diplomat, who talked with journalists on the terms of anonymity, we want to avoid further retaliation, "stop the spiral of deterioration of relations." Two of the three closed buildings were owned by the Russian Federation, the third, as the diplomat believes, was rented. Russia can now sell this real estate belonging to it, but the United States has banned the use of it in “diplomatic, consular purposes or for living”.

The official representative of the State Department of Hiser Neurt said that “now *(after the parity achieved - *a. P. ), the US hopes that relations between the two countries will begin to improve and cooperation to increase.” The new decision was personally made by President Trump, it does not provide for a further reduction in the number of Russian diplomats who can continue to work in the United States.

Thus, the White House makes it clear to the Kremlin: you wanted parity - you received it. Now let's talk.

However, here they could not help but understand that the reaction of Moscow would be sharply negative, new tough response steps were promised.

Accusations and refutations

On Saturday, the US adviser in Moscow Anthony Godfrey was called to the Russian Foreign Ministry, who was awarded a note of protest in connection with the intention to search the Russian diplomatic facility in the United States. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also posted a video on Facebook as “FBI agents” (as affirmed in Moscow) inspect the buildings of the Consulate General in San Francisco and trade in Washington. Russian television channels showed exclusive personnel, as the Americans in civilian clothes take a post at the gate on Saturday, as an unknown man in a tie knocks on the door of the apartments where some employees live, and he is opened in shorts, like smoke swirling over the building in San Francisco on the eve of the day before. Firefighters San Francisco in response to numerous calls of worried residents reported on Twitter: there is smoke, but there is no fire, everything is under control.

By the way, the Foreign Policy reporter removed and published on Twitter a similar smoke on Friday evening, but from the window of the trade capital building in Washington.

Moscow said that the United States violated all international norms, having searched in buildings belonging to the Russian Federation. “Provocation”, “challenge”, “rudeness”, “state hooliganism” - gives a couple of Russian federal television.

The Trump administration rejects the accusations that the Vienna Convention on the Consular Relations of 1963 was violated, noting that this pact allows the host side to consent to the fact that foreign states create consular institutions and to recall it, demanding their closure. The mechanism is not registered, formally the United States has not violated anything.

Read further
Below, read the interview with Vladimir Lukin, the former ambassador of Russia to the United States, is about whether the closure of diplomatic buildings and their inspection by violation of international conventions is.

The State Department called a untruth that the employees promised to “hack the front door” if they were not allowed into the room. And this was not a “unilateral search”, but a joint inspection agreed by both parties “to ensure the safety and protect objects and confirm that the Russian government freed them,” the representative of the US diplomatic department said at a briefing. If there were only Americans, then who shot the video shown by Russian television?

The State Department refused to comment on reports that the FBI agents took part in the inspection of the buildings and that the buildings would be examined again in order to collect reconnaissance information, the Politico publication writes.

Andrei Varlamov, Deputy General of the Consul General in an interview with the newspaper San Francisco Kronikl, noted that the consulate in San Francisco issued 16 thousand tourist visas for Americans and 8 thousand passports for Russians last year. The diplomat also explained the cause of smoke over the building. Consular workers did not have time to pack and take out all the personal information about American and Russian citizens who applied to the consulate for visas and passports in 48 hours. So I had to burn these papers in the fireplace. The Americans, going towards the families of consular workers living in a six -story building, postponed the deadline until October 1. According to Varlamov, American representatives who carried out the building of the building on Saturday introduced themselves as employees of the department of foreign missions - one of the divisions of the State Department.

Jackie Spayer, a member of the House of Congress from the Democratic Party, is convinced that, first of all, intelligence information was burned in the fireplace. The American media write that several employees of the Consulate General were on last year's list and were sent from the United States. The Congresswomen, a member of the intelligence committee, conducting the investigation of Trump's entourage with the Russian political elite, wrote down on her Twitter: “If there were doubts that the consulate was engaged in espionage, then black smoke dispelled them.”

The American media note that the closure of Russian representative offices on both coasts of the United States has become the most radical diplomatic measure against Russia, starting since 1986, when both powers have sent dozens of diplomats. However, then it was about the confrontation between the USA and the USSR. In the history of post -Soviet Russia, such a diplomatic confrontation for the first time. It goes against the backdrop of wars in Ukraine and Syria, which some local experts call "indirect wars" in the global confrontation of Moscow and Washington. But to the greatest extent, the relations were affected after the American side that Russia had intervened in the elections on the side of Donald Trump.

So, Washington made a move, while accusing Moscow of inciting the "diplomatic war" on the principle of "eye" and announcing that now there was a real parity and it was time to stop. The new meeting of Lavrov and Tillerson is expected this month in the fields of the UN General Assembly in New York. But who knows, maybe Moscow will make the promised return move even earlier. Judging by the mood, the Russian side of the parity in the current situation does not see and is not going to stop.

Alexander Panov, Sobtor "New",
*Washington *

PS

Another 155?

When the material was prepared for printing, President Putin, at a press conference of the Brix summit in Chinese Syamen, noted that the US authorities had the right to reduce the number of Russian consulate in their country, but they did it “in the boorish manner”. The Russian side will file a court for violation of the property rights of Russia. Putin also hinted at the possibility (depending on the further development of events) to reduce the US diplomatic mission in Russia by another 155 employees for real restoration of the parity of diplomatic employees in the Russian Federation and the United States. Since 455 Russian diplomats in the United States include 155 employees of the Russian representative office in the UN, who "are not diplomats accredited by the US State Department, but are diplomats working in an international organization."

Vladimir Lukin: “What are we talking about insulting or about the interests”?

Former ambassador to the United States, now the President of the Paralympic Committee of Russia answers the questions of the "new" about the diplomatic duel between the Russian Federation and the USA

- Did the American side violate international law in relation to Russian representative offices in the States?

- Of course, there are violations of international law if you look at the situation on our part. Of course, they are not if you look at it from the American side.

The fact is that international law differs from any national one that it does not have a final instance that can determine whether there was a violation or not.

Of course, in international diplomatic practice, giving so little time to free the room, and even arrange searches there - this, to put it mildly, is unusual from the point of view of traditions and established international practice. But the 1961 Vienna Convention can be interpreted as you like.

We observe the weakness and ambiguity of international law, firstly. And the established tradition of using international law for propaganda purposes by all states without exception, secondly.

The problem is that the current

“The negative dynamics of relations has come to such an extent that it has passed from the field of relations as such to the sphere of personal grievances and irritability, which is not compatible with real diplomacy.”

In fact, the diplomat differs from a normal person exactly in that he should not translate resentment, irritation, bitterness into a practical plane. And now the insults and the reckoning pride have reached such heights that they do not lead to an attempt to sit down at the table and solve the accumulated problems on the merits, but to find out who is stronger, who is cooler, who can afford more, who can cause more damage. There is an escalation of the implementation of hostility, irritation, including from unfulfilled hopes.

This is a very poor condition. As you know, diplomacy is the use of mind and tact in international relations. And the situation develops so that diplomacy is becoming less and less, and the conversation "Who are you?" More and more.

- Are the “cool” actions of the parties mainly on internal consumers?

- Of course, the internal factor plays a large role. In this matter, balance is very important. For example, we had a period when the international factor dominated. Our leadership received a large dose of applause from the West, but at the same time turned out to be less and less popular within the country. And this ultimately caused a reaction from the ruling circles. But there is no need to lose balance. Because excessive attention to domestic policy due to foreign policy ultimately leads to serious internal political costs. And long -term.

- Will the escalation of hostility continue? Or has she reached the limit?

“I am not such a smart person to be a pessimist.” Therefore, I am a cautious optimist. I think that ultimately consideration, say, political realism, a calm calculation of debit and credit will lead to reasonable results. After all, it is well known that the one who greets the first and first extends his hand smarter. The problem is that the other is no less stubborn - the side might think that you did it not because you are smarter, but because it is weaker. And this, I think, is afraid of just our side. We do not like to look weaker than someone even when, in essence, it is. I am afraid that the escalation of irritation can affect other serious problems, in particular, safety problems. Take, for example, the situation around North Korea. I am sure that our main interests, China, South Korea, Japan and the USA coincide. But turning this coincidence into an effective joint solution in the current situation is very difficult. So what are we talking about - about resentment or interests?

Andrey Lipsky, "New Gazeta"