Russia Ready To Issue Visas To US Teachers, Washington Must Decide - Antonov

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2019) Moscow is prepared to issue visas to US teachers as early as Thursday but it is up to Washington to decide, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told reporters.

"We are ready to start issuing visas to American teachers tomorrow, but can we count on reciprocity from the American side? There is no answer to that," Antonov said on Wednesday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday dismissed US media allegations that Russia denied visas for US teachers working in Moscow as a blatant lie.

The ambassador said concerning the matter of issuing visas the decision was now up to Washington, which has imposed restrictions. The ambassador also accused the US government of starting the visa war in the first place.

"Since the time when Russian diplomats were forced to leave the United States, the American side launched a visa war against us," Antonov said. "The Americans stopped issuing visas to our diplomats and administrative staff. They introduced a system of exchanges - for each Russian diplomat we will have to give a visa to an American diplomat, as well as for every administrative employee and technical staff we must give a visa to an American."

Moscow suggested different ways to solve visa issues with the United States and is interested in normal relations with Washington.

"We are interested in normal, pragmatic relations with the USA, in a normal situation in the area of visa problems," the Russian envoy said.

The New York Times wrote Tuesday that Moscow had recently denied visas for 30 teachers, about 20 percent of the teaching staff, at the Anglo-American School in the Russian capital run by Western embassies. The newspaper said the school served 1,200 prekindergarten through high school students, adding that many of them were children of diplomats and foreign businessmen. The school was created in 1949 by the US, UK and Canadian governments.

The Russian Ministry said US school teachers were sent to Russia as embassy employees with diplomatic passports, although the school operated as a commercial enterprise. The ministry added that Moscow had repeatedly asked the United States to discuss the situation and bring the school's status and the teachers' visas in line with regulations, and solve all issues on the basis of reciprocity, but the US side failed to engage in dialogue.

The ministry said Washington had deliberately created a deadlock situation to invent another scandal.