Photo credit: 1tv.ru
All Russians who are currently locked up in American prisons should be returned to their homeland, Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov is sure. According to him, the embassy has always insisted on this in dialogue with the US administration, and has not changed its position, TASS reports.
During a working trip to California, the diplomat visited Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik. He is in pre-trial detention.
The ambassador called the policy of hunting for Russian citizens in third countries pursued by the American authorities disastrous and harmful.
Antonov also assured that diplomats will continue to visit Russians who remain behind bars in the United States. In the coming days, he explained, he will meet with three Russians who are imprisoned in New York. It is necessary to find out in what conditions they are kept, what needs to be done in order to alleviate their lot, the ambassador said.
Anatoly Antonov noted that Washington does not care about the interests of other countries, it is guided only by its own rules. The ambassador stressed that Moscow will never come to terms with such an approach.
The diplomat called Russia's priority the return of prisoners from American prisons. He noted that the diplomatic mission is doing everything possible to return them home. The head of the embassy called on American politicians and journalists to stop ''playing on the destinies of people,'' leaving the resolution of these issues to specialists.
It is noted that Russia and the United States maintain a channel of communication on prisoner exchange issues, and in the recent past this has helped several Russians return to their homeland.
Russkiy Mir
