Washington Stepping up Pressure on Russian Diplomats in US
If US authorities decide to restrict the movement of Russian diplomats in the United States, Moscow will be forced to take similar measures regarding American diplomats.
"If Washington really decides to violate existing agreements, we will 'mirror' the move. We will impose similar restrictions on American diplomats in Russia," Zakharova said.
Zakharova emphasized that "this is not our choice, we are not the initiators of the next step toward deterioration of bilateral relations."
She added that Russian diplomats in the US have become objects of provacations by US intelligence services.
On Monday, a BuzzFeed news outlet report cited a US intelligence community source saying the proposed intelligence bill in Congress calls for a revival of the Cold War-era group to counter Russian spies and Russian-sponsored assassinations in the United States.
US Air Defense System in Europe
Moscow believes that the US and Russia can find a mutually acceptable solution on the US air defense systems in Europe, Zakharova said. "Otherwise we will be forced to introduce appropriate response measures."
The Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman said that Moscow needs guarantees from the US that the air defense systems in Europe are not directed against Russia.
"Guarantees that the air defense system is not directed against Russia is the only possible way to resolve the issue. If the US really seeks to minimize missile threats Washington is speaking about, such an agreemetnt with Russia cannot undermine US ability to defend itself and its allies and partners from these threats."
The United States’ Aegis Ashore system is expected to become operational in Poland in 2018. It is planned to form part of the European missile shield and be armed with land-based Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors.
In recent years, the United States has taken significant steps to deploy ballistic missile defense systems throughout Europe under the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA). The Aegis Ashore facility in Poland marks the third phase of the EPAA.
Syria-Turkey Border
"Situation on the Syrian-Turkish border remains a source of constant tensions because of the continuing infiltration of militants from Turkey, as well as weapons and ammunition smuggling for terrorist groups in Syria."
She called for the closure of the Turkish-Syrian frontier "in the interests of normalizing the situation in Syria exactly as specified in UN Security Council resolutions 2170, 2178, 2258."
According to Zakharova, even during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, fighting in Syria is still intense.
The spokeswoman noted regular clashes between Syrian government forces and terrorists in the city of Manbij, with intermittent fighting in Latakia, Idlib, and Damascus provinces.
Brexit Referendum
She said that the results of the vote are an internal matter of Britain as well as the European Union.
British nationals are voting in the referendum to determine whether the United Kingdom should leave the European Union or not. Polling stations across the United Kingdom stay open from 7:00 a.m. through 10:00 p.m. local time. There is no threshold for turnout, and there will be no exit polls.
North Korean Missile Launches
The Russian Foreign Ministry hopes that the Korean Peninsula will not become another hotbed of confrontation, Zakharova said, commenting on the recent missile launches by Pyongyang.
On Wednesday, the US, Japanese and South Korean militaries detected two launches of presumably Musudan medium-range ballistic missiles from North Korea’s eastern coast.
Tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs escalated after Pyongyang said on January 6 that it had successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test and put a satellite into orbit on February 7. The moves violated UN Security Council resolutions, and prompted the United Nations as well as the United States to impose sanctions.
