FRICTION

Moscow Summons U.S. Diplomat Over ‘Aggressive Act’

Russia says U.S. intelligence services may be planning an “anti-Russian provocation” at its trade mission in Washington.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday said it had summoned the top U.S. envoy in Moscow to issue an official note of protest over an “illegitimate search” of Russia’s trade mission in Washington. Anthony F. Godfrey, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, has reportedly been summoned amid rising tensions between the two countries. “We consider the planned illegitimate search of the Russian diplomatic premises without the presence of Russian officials and a threat to break down the front door as an unprecedented, aggressive act,” a statement from the Foreign Ministry said. The search could be used by U.S. authorities to “organize an anti-Russian provocation involving planting compromising materials,” the statement claimed. Russia’s trade complex in Washington has been ordered closed by U.S. authorities as a retaliatory measure for the Kremlin’s decision last month to reduce the number of U.S. diplomats in Russia. A Russian diplomatic office in New York has also been closed, as well as its consulate in San Francisco, where staff reportedly spent Friday afternoon burning unidentified objects before vacating the premises.