FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA: “The U.S. is sharply cutting back visa services in Russia after the Kremlin responded to fresh U.S. sanctions by capping the number of U.S. diplomats in the country.
The U.S. embassy said on its website that it would suspend all nonimmigrant visa operations across Russia on Aug. 23 and restart them on Sept. 1 ‘on a greatly reduced scale.’ Nonimmigrant visas will only be issued in Moscow, not at consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok.
‘Russia’s decision to reduce the United States’ diplomatic presence here calls into question Russia’s seriousness about pursuing better relations,’ the embassy said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the U.S. was trying to provoke Russians into expressing dissatisfaction with the Russian government, according to Russian news agencies.
‘This logic is well known. It’s the logic of those who organized color revolutions,’ Mr. Lavrov said at a news conference, referring to pro-Western uprisings in former Soviet republics in the 2000s that Russia claims were orchestrated by the U.S.
The move comes amid deteriorating relations between the White House and the Kremlin. Russia capped the number of U.S. diplomats in Russia in retaliation for new sanctions imposed by Congress for Russia’s alleged interference in the U.S. presidential election last year.”
-James Marson, “U.S. Reduces Russian Visa Services as Kremlin Caps Diplomat Numbers,” The Wall Street Journal online, Aug. 21, 2017 07:45am