Kremlin Castigates US over Attempts to Recruit Russian Embassy Staff

Russia castigated the US government for its attempts to recruit staff in the Russian embassy in Washington to work against their government, calling it “unacceptable.”

Russia’s envoy to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, told state media that embassy employees had repeatedly been threatened with physical violence, or frequently badgered in the vicinity of the embassy to work for the US Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] or the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA].

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in his remarks on Monday said they “share the concerns” of the embassy staff over what he called the “brazen behavior” of the American spy agencies.

“We do share the concerns of the head of our diplomatic mission in the United States about the really rather brazen behavior of the American intelligence agencies in relation to our citizens and to the employees of our mission,” Peskov said, calling it “unacceptable.”

The anti-Russia moves have seen an alarming rise in the US since the Kremlin launched a military operation in Ukraine in late February.

The operation was announced following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said one of the goals of what he called a “special military operation” was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

The US and its NATO allies have thrown their weight behind Ukraine, slapping unprecedented sanctions on Moscow in a bid to pressure it to abandon its operation in the former Soviet republic.

They have also aided Kiev with sophisticated military equipment, which has prolonged the conflict in Ukraine, according to observers.

Source: Agencies (edited by Al-Manar English Website