Washington and Moscow should have open channels of communication at a time of heightened tension. Therefore, the United States continues to cooperate with Russia to restore the diplomatic staff and the full functioning of the embassies. This was announced to Izvestia on November 16 in the American diplomatic mission in Moscow.

“We continue to cooperate with the Russian government to maintain a properly staffed, viable and functioning US embassy in Moscow. Such an embassy is crucial for diplomacy, and therefore we continue to work hard to solve this problem [with the diplomatic staff],” the mission said.

Diplomatic collapse between Russia and USA continues since 2016. Back then, the Obama administration accused Russia of “interfering in the elections”, expelled 35 diplomats, and denied Russians access to two residential complexes – the so-called country dachas of the Russian permanent mission in New York and the Russian embassy in Washington.

Since May 12, 2021, the US diplomatic missions in Russia, citing a lack of staff, have stopped issuing non-immigrant visas.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Normal mode: the USA issued 26 thousand tourist visas to Russians