Kremlin: US Putting Conditions on Return of Diplomatic Property is Unacceptable

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A senior White House official told Sputnik on Monday that the properties, seized in December 2016 over Russia’s alleged interference in the US election, would be given back only under the condition that it receives something in return from Moscow.

"We have already noted that we deem it absolutely unacceptable to set any conditions for the return of the diplomatic property. We believe that it must be returned without any conditions, without any negotiations," Peskov told reporters.

Moscow expects the United States to exhibit political wisdom and will in resolving the dispute over the seized Russian diplomatic property in New York and Maryland, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

"We still hope that our US colleagues will show some kind of political wisdom and political will," Peskov told reporters.

He urged to "not get ahead of ourselves" when asked what to expect from Monday's talks between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon in Washington.

"Indeed, the situation is quite sensitive, it is frankly speaking complicated. Therefore, any extra words can only hurt," Peskov stressed.

In December 2016, Washington imposed a number of restrictive measures on Russia over Moscow’s alleged meddling in the US presidential election, including sanctions against several Russian individuals and entities, as well as the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and the closure of two Russian diplomatic compounds in the United States.

On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow would take retaliatory measures against Washington if the situation with Russia's diplomatic property in the United States was not resolved. Also on Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Sputnik that Moscow had prepared a "tough" response to the United States' move, among other options.

 

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