Russia ready to retaliate if US continues diplomatic hostility

Moscow July 18 (IANS) Moscow reserves the right to impose tit-for-tat measures if Washington does not remove obstacles to activities of Russian diplomatic institutions the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Monday held consultations with US Under Secretary of State Thomas Shannon in Washington on bilateral ties including burning issues regarding the illegal seizure of Russian property in the US by the former Barack Obama administration Xinhua news agency reported.

"The Russian side stressed that if Washington did not eliminate this and other irritants including the continued efforts to hinder the functioning of Russian diplomatic missions it had the right to respond on the basis of the principle of reciprocity " a ministry statement said.

It also said the attention of the US was drawn again to the fact that Russia was in favour of resuming regular dialogue on this issue which was interrupted by the previous US leadership adding that now it was Washington s turn to act.

--IANS
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