The situation with Russia’s diplomatic property in the United States is unprecedented, but the Kremlin expects that its US counterparts will demonstrate political will and correct violations of international law, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.
In December 2016, then-US President Barack Obama’s administration approved a sanctions package against Russia due to its alleged interference in the US elections. The measures included barring access to two diplomatic compounds in use by the Russian Embassy in Washington and Russia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.
“There is an understanding that, indeed, patience is running out, because the situation is unprecedented: both from the point of view of bilateral Russian-US relations and from the viewpoint of international law. Therefore, of course, Russia can not long tolerate this without response measures,” Peskov told reporters.
“At the same time, we expect some kind of political will to be demonstrated on the part of our colleagues in the United States to rectify the violations of international law,” he said.
The two compounds were closed down over Russia’s alleged interference in the US presidential election, which Moscow has repeatedly denied. At the same time, 35 Russian diplomats were expelled from the United States.