US Embassy in Moscow cuts visa services as tensions rise
Iran Press TV
Friday, 30 April 2021 1:45 PM
The US has announced it will reduce visa and consular services at its embassy in the Russian capital, due to "the actions of the Russian government," as tensions rise between Washington and Moscow.
The US Embassy in Moscow announced on its website on Friday that it would "reduce consular services offered to include only emergency US citizen services and a very limited number of age-out and life or death emergency immigrant visas."
The mission's services will be restricted to a minimum starting May 12, it said.
"Non-immigrant visa processing for non-diplomatic travel will cease," the embassy said.
It announced that the US nationals whose Russian visas were about to expire should leave the country "before the June 15 deadline set by the Russian government."
The embassy claimed that the service reductions were taken in line with the restrictions imposed by the Kremlin on employing Russian and third-country nationals in any capacity.
"We regret that the actions of the Russian government have forced us to reduce our consular work force by 75% and will endeavor to offer to US citizens as many services as possible," said the embassy.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Foreign Ministry to draw up a list of "unfriendly" states that will be subject to restrictions.
Under the decree, Moscow is now authorized to restrict or ban employment contracts with "state bodies and state institutions of foreign states committing unfriendly acts against the Russian Federation."
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down the impact of the restrictions on US visa services on Friday, but said, "The source of all this was the unfriendly actions of the United States."
Peskov said that US visa services had already been limited for at least a year amid the pandemic.
Putin's decree was issued amid growing tensions between Russia and Western countries.
The administration of US President Joe Biden recently imposed sanctions on Russia over alleged cyberattacks, human rights violations, and the Ukrainian conflict.
The White House said the sanctions were not designed to escalate bilateral tensions but to impose costs on Moscow for what Washington feels "are unacceptable actions by the Russian government."
However, the measures seem to be increasingly leading the two countries toward unprecedented friction.
The Kremlin had earlier described the US sanctions as unacceptable and said the measures would not help the prospect of a summit proposed by the US president to be held between him and Putin.
During a phone call with Putin earlier this month, Biden proposed that he meet the Russian president to discuss the issues between their two countries.
But Biden proposed the summit after an interview in which he called Putin a "killer."
In his remarks on Friday, Putin's spokesman also said that Moscow was disappointed with the first 100 days of the administration of President Biden. "We expected better," he said.
Since taking office in January, Biden has taken a harder stance toward Moscow than his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.
An American journalist, Max Parry, has told Press TV that the new president is apparently determined to wipe out any chance of improving diplomatic relations with Russia.
Moscow has rejected the US allegations of cyberattacks, rights violations, and election meddling.
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