Moscow To Suspend Practice Of Hiring Russians For Work In US Diplomatic Missions - Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday announced the launch of a procedure that will suspend the practice of hiring citizens of Russia and third countries to work in US diplomatic missions in Russia

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th April, 2021) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday announced the launch of a procedure that will suspend the practice of hiring citizens of Russia and third countries to work in US diplomatic missions in Russia.

"We are launching a procedure in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and in accordance with Russian law, including the labor code, that will suspend the practice of hiring citizens of Russia and third countries to work in US diplomatic missions in Russia," Lavrov said at a press conference.

According to him, this practice is widely used by the United States, and not by Russia, so Moscow is introducing parity in this matter.

The minister added that Moscow would also suspend the practice of "uncontrolled unlimited short-term trips" of the employees of the US State Department and other agencies to do some work in US diplomatic missions in Russia, since the goal of such work is sometimes "misleading."

According to Lavrov, Moscow has also decided to begin the procedure for denouncing the agreement regulating the travel of US diplomats in Russia outside the US diplomatic missions.

Moscow will deal with these issues on an individual basis in the future.

On Thursday, the US slapped new sanctions on 32 Russian individuals and entities. Washington also prohibited US financial institutions from buying Russian government bonds starting June 14.

Additionally, the US has expelled 10 Russian diplomats from the country.

The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the new US sanctions as running contrary to the interests of the two nations.

Commenting on these sanctions, Lavrov said that for "obvious reasons" Russia does not have a comparable leverage on the United States, when it comes to sanctions of such scale. At the same time, the minister said, these measures are being assessed by Russian economic specialists as not something that would significantly hit the Russian economy.