Photo credit: dailystorm.ru
The Foreign Ministry of Russia expressed a strong protest to envoy to the US Embassy in Russia Richard Richardson in connection with statements by US officials and publications in the US media claiming that Moscow had allegedly refused to issue visas to employees of the Anglo-American school in Moscow. Russian diplomats reported to the US official that “the situation is exactly the opposite,” according to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
The key to understanding the real situation that has developed around the teachers of this school is the history of the existence of the institution. The school was opened in 1949 on the territory of the US Embassy to train children of diplomatic staff. In the 1990s, without notifying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and in violation of the Vienna Convention, the educational institution opened in a building outside the embassy and began to provide services on a commercial basis. Nevertheless, the pedagogical staff of the school continues to be commanded by the US State Department, and the teachers come to Russia on diplomatic visas.
Representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry point out that for about two years the United States has unleashed a “visa war” against Russian diplomats, which is expressed in the expulsion of embassies and consulates, the refusal to issue visas and the delay in processing applications. Russia was forced to resort to retaliatory measures, while Moscow repeatedly tried to convince Washington to abandon the "visa war."
The Russian Foreign Ministry is convinced that the blame for the situation around the issuance of visas to American teachers lies with the United States. The ministry also expressed readiness to issue entry permits to diplomatic workers and personnel in due time if the US stops the “visa war” and returns the work to normal.
Russkiy Mir
