Visa war in full swing: American ambassador to Russia learns how to clean floors

Nevertheless, on the eve of the newspaper The Washington Post trumpeted the whole world: the parties have made progress in resolving the conflict over the diplomatic missions of both countries.

Gennady Charodeyev

According to Novye Izvestia information, 120 American diplomats remain in Russia at the moment. Several years ago, the US Embassy in Moscow had 1,200 employees.

Recall that the Russian Foreign Ministry announced: by January 31, 2022, employees of the American Embassy, who have been in Moscow for more than three years, will have to leave Russia. This was a response to the decision of Washington, according to which, by January 30, 27 employees of the Russian embassy will be forced to leave the United States.

There is another problem as well. Back in April, President Putin signed a decree according to which embassies and consulates of countries committing unfriendly actions against Russia were banned from hiring people on Russian territory, and already concluded labor contracts were ordered to terminate. The list of unfriendly countries includes the United States and the Czech Republic.

After the firing of all the cleaning ladies from the US Embassy, according to the American media, Ambassador Sullivan "learned to mix latrine cleaning solutions", and also to use a floor washer in case of further redundancies.

And all the same, John Sullivan, who seems to have his head spinning, speaks with optimism about the results of the negotiations in Vienna between the United States and Russia on visa and property issues: “We may have modest progress so far, but modest progress is better than its absence or worsening of the situation".

“Today everyone has an interest in having fully functional diplomatic missions in our countries. Our presidents talked about this, and came to an agreement in June in Geneva, ”said John Sullivan in an interview with RBC. It turns out that again "these Russians" are to blame for everything. In fact, Moscow has imposed restrictions on the hiring of Russian and third-country nationals by the US diplomatic mission in response to Washington's announced anti-Russian sanctions and another expulsion of diplomats.

The Americans did not remain in debt: the US Embassy has reduced the number of consular services provided since May 12, including suspended the consideration of documents for visas that are not intended for diplomatic travel. So our citizens are knocking around in search of a country where they could get an American visa.

As you know, the issue of the work of the foreign missions of the two countries during a meeting in Moscow was discussed by the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov and the US Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland. on the eve of the Russian Foreign Ministry proposed Washington to remove all mutual restrictions on the work of diplomatic missions. After meeting with Nuland Ryabkov suddenly announced that he did not exclude further aggravation in relations with the United States.

Despite the optimism of John Sullivan and The Washington Post, the "ambassadorial" war continues. In any case, Moscow is officially denying rumors that Russia and the United States, during consultations in Vienna, allegedly prepared a draft document to restore the issuance of visas and the work of embassies. “There is no progress in this matter yet. Washington does not react to Moscow's proposals”, - complained to Novye Izvestia on Smolenskaya Square.

We can only hope for a videoconference between Putin and Biden. At the talks, the presidents should touch upon the work of the diplomatic missions of Russia and the United States and the issuance of visas, including to diplomats.