MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The US government's move to seize Russian diplomatic property in the United States destabilized not only relations with Russia, but also the international order, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Friday.
"The episode with the search is not the first time that the United States has allowed a flagrant violation of international law. This behavior is unworthy of a subject of international law, a permanent member of the UN Security Council," Zakharova said.
"Unfortunately, it threatens to turn not just into a precedent, but into a new American tradition. I believe that in this way the US destabilizes not only Russian-American relations, but also the global international order," she said.
“This week, much was said about raids [in Russian diplomatic compounds in the United States] which were initiated by the FBI as we understand… Without a doubt, according to our information, as we understand it, the personnel of the US security services and the FBI are directly behind everything going on regarding Russian diplomats,” she said at a briefing.
The US shut down and seized the San Francisco mission and two trade missions in Washington DC and New York.
The seizures come in light of escalating tit-for-tat between the two nations, following the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats in December 2016 and hundreds of US diplomats from Russia in July 2017.
The decision to close the Russian missions was taken by Donald Trump personally, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters in Washington last week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he would instruct the Foreign Ministry to go to court regarding Russian diplomatic property in the United States.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov informed his US counterpart Rex Tillerson of Moscow's intention to bring the issue to court.
