The United States is practically holding over 60 Russians hostage by arresting people on false charges and sentencing them to dozens of years in prison, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"The US authorities have been literally hunting Russians across the globe especially in countries that have bilateral treaties on extradition with the US, seeking the arrest of our citizens on false charges... The overall number of Russian citizens basically held hostage exceeds 60," the deputy minister said.
Vershinin said that US courts sentence Russians to dozens of years in prison, with the tendency becoming even stronger under the current US administration amid rising political tensions between the two countries.
The senior Russian diplomat also urged Russian people to weigh up the risks they could face when traveling to unfriendly countries if there is even the "slightest suspicion" that they could be of specific interest to US secret services and law enforcement as Russians are presumed guilty in this country.
Russia's foreign ministry, embassy in Washington, general consulates in New York and Houston will continue to provide all possible help to Russians who are in trouble and seek their return home, Vershinin added, noting that Moscow would decisively respond to all hostile actions by the US authorities.
Earlier in the month, the US and Russia exchanged imprisoned US basketball player Brittney Griner and Russian businessman Viktor Bout in a one-for-one prisoner swap. Bout was serving a 25-year sentence in the US on arms dealing charges. Griner was sentenced earlier this year to nine years in prison in Russia for illegally bringing cannabis oil into the country.
‘Ghost of Soviet Union’ Still Haunting Washington, Russian Ambassador Says
In its relations with Russia, the United States is still driven by a "Cold War" mentality and finds it hard to accept the changes on the international arena, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with Newsweek.
"Washington seems to need to constantly assert itself through competition with Russia. It looks as if the 'ghost' of the Soviet Union is still haunting the corridors of power in the American capital, and the ‘Сold War’ has not ended at all," Antonov said.
According to the Russian ambassador, the United States is driven by a feeling of "exceptionalism," which is why it wanted to create an area of instability at Russia's borders. In addition, many American politicians still act in accordance with the "Cold War" mentality and find it hard to accept the "restoration of Russia's international prestige" under President Vladimir Putin, Antonov said.
He emphasized that it will take a long time to build a multipolar world and, as part of that complex journey, the Russia-US standoff must be mutually respectful.
Earlier this month, Antonov said that, instead of escalating the current situation with baseless accusations, Washington should consider whether the direction of its relations with Moscow was in line with its international obligations.
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