The American authorities' unceremonious attitude towards Russian diplomatic property aroused serious discontent in the Russian Foreign Ministry. Moscow sent Washington a note of protest, and also asked the UN Secretary General to draw attention to the current situation. In a message to the UN Secretary General, the US government has taken a series of violent measures that were provocative and hostile to a number of Russian official missions, their property, as well as employees of these missions and members of their families, unprecedented in scale and cynicism ". According to Russian diplomats, the consequences of this situation "go far beyond the interstate relations" of the two countries, as well as "affect the interests of the entire international community," says the note of protest. The Ministry drew attention to the fact that personal belongings of employees and their families remained in the premises, and the practical implementation of the measures taken by the US authorities "was unprecedented". In this regard, the department demanded "to ensure the access of interested persons (from among the staff of the relevant Russian missions and their family members) to the above-mentioned premises in order to return their property". The Foreign Ministry stressed that Moscow has the right to "use additional countermeasures if the United States continues its violations". Deputy Chairman of the Association of Russian diplomats Andrei Baklanov, commenting on the note of protest, said that the measures taken by the US in relation to Russian diplomatic missions are absolutely unacceptable and based on nothing, writes RT.

And "the explanations that the United States of America tried to try are, of course, childish babble, and simply are not worthy of the diplomacy and diplomatic practice of the members of the Security Council," the diplomat concluded.. Recall that in September 2017, the US State Department demanded the transfer of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in San Francisco, a trade mission in Washington and the premises of the New York Trade Mission to the American side.