WASHINGTON, June 11. /TASS/. Moscow has given to Washington the roadmap on return of the de-facto confiscated Russian diplomatic property in the United States, Russia’s new Ambassador to Washington Alexander Darchiev said in an interview with TASS, the first one since the start of his tenure on March 26.
“As part of the permanent mechanism of regular consultations on bilateral ‘irritants,’ where I lead the Russian delegation, a negotiation process has been launched about the return of the six Russian diplomatic property sites, de-facto confiscated in 2016-2018,” he said. “The American side has been given a ‘roadmap’ with realistic timeframes and a demand to provide access to these sites for inspections and assessment of damage.”
In 2017, the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco, the trade mission in Washington (both state-owned) and its branch in New York (rented premises) were closed due to anti-Russian sanctions. In 2018, Washington announced the closure of the Russian Consulate General in Seattle (rented premises), as well as the residence of the Consul General (diplomatic property). Russia reacted to the seizure of diplomatic property as an openly hostile act and called on the United States to immediately return these facilities.