History of parity between the diplomatic missions of the USA and Russia had put down roots, when Russia reduced the staff of the American diplomatic missions on its territory. The subsequent step in order to equalize the number of employees has become a requirement of the United States to close the Consulate in San Francisco and other diplomatic facilities.
Russia decided to give the conflict yet another stage of development. Namely President Vladimir Putin called rudeness closure of the Russian diplomatic missions in the United States and drew attention to the fact that the fate of 150 American diplomats have not been solved.
«We have agreed with our partners that the number of our employees and diplomats in Russia and the United States should be equal. In Russia there were 1300, I think diplomats, in the United States we have 455. We brought it into line – 455. I want to draw your attention to the fact that these 455 of diplomatic personnel operating in the United States, we have included, conditionally included, and 155 people working at the UN. Strictly speaking, they are not diplomats accredited to the US state Department, and are diplomats working in international organizations», – said Putin.
The Russian head of state openly insulted the representatives of the American authorities, saying that among them there are people with «low level of political culture». He added that such people find it difficult to engage in constructive dialogue.
At the end of his speech, he assured that he would give the order to file a lawsuit in an American court because of the situation with the Russian diplomatic property in the United States.
