Russia accuses US of ‘blatant hostile act’
RUSSIA condemned the American decision to close three Russian diplomatic facilities in the US as a “blatantly hostile act” and demanded the decision be reversed.
Smoke was seen rising from the sixstorey consulate in San Francisco over the weekend as Russian diplomats worked to vacate the property, one of three compounds US authorities have told them to quit.
“We treat these developments as a blatantly hostile act, a grave violation by Washington of international law,” the Russian foreign ministry said on its website yesterday.
“We urge the US authorities to come to their senses and immediately return the Russian diplomatic facilities,” the ministry added. “Otherwise, the US will bear total blame for the ongoing degradation of the relations between our countries.” The comments came as Vladimir Putin issued a veiled criticism of Donald Trump’s North Korea policy.
Following a meeting with Xi Jinping, the president of China, Mr Putin’s spokesman said the current approach to Pyongyang had not yielded “posi- tive” results and hinted Russia would resist further UN sanctions regime.
“The imposed sanctions have not created any positive outcome. On the contrary, the situation leaves something to be desired,” said Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman.
Mr Putin also said in a telephone call with Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, that although the test “torpedoed” the non-proliferation regime, the crisis “should be resolved only by political and diplomatic means”.
Mr Putin arrived in Xiamen for a summit of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – hours after North Korea announced its sixth nuclear test. Mr Putin will host regional leaders in Vladivostok for an economic forum on Wednesday and Thursday.