The US State Department has told Russian diplomats that Ambassador Anatoly Antonov would have to leave the US by April if Moscow fails to meet certain demands by Washington, Antonov himself told journalists on Wednesday.
The Russian ambassador would only be able to stay in the US if Moscow grants visas to the bodyguards of the US envoy to Russia, John Sullivan, Antonov explained, adding that this is all part of increasingly tense relations between the two nations.
“There is no progress when it comes to the [Russian] diplomatic property [in the US] or visas or the development of relations themselves,” the Russian ambassador said, adding that he believes the situation can only get worse from now on.
He also said that the Russian diplomats try to contact the State Department every two weeks and have already sent between 400 and 500 notes requesting access to the Russian diplomatic compounds in San Francisco, Washington, New York, and Seattle. All the compounds were seized back under the Trump administration between 2017 and 2018. At least some of the facilities were officially Russia’s diplomatic property and Moscow blasted their seizure by the US as an illegal property takeover and an openly hostile act.