Russia has begun work on the formation of a list of unfriendly countries that will be prohibited from hiring Russian citizens to work in a diplomatic mission. At the moment, the United States already appears in it, said on Sunday the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova on the air of the Russia-1 TV channel.
“As you know, a decree of the President [of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin] was published the day before, which contains a number of measures to implement the already existing federal laws, according to which now those states that are declared unfriendly cannot recruit employees from among the citizens of the Russian Federation for their diplomatic and consular missions <…> Now we are awaiting the release of a government order to ensure the implementation of the corresponding decree <…> And who are these unfriendly states? The list is now being formed <…> As we understand, the whole story began with another round of unfriendly actions USA <…> As you understand and how can I confirm this, of course, the USA is on the list, “she said.
“You will find out the rest of the states when the government decree will be published and the corresponding list will appear,” the diplomat added.
Zakharova stressed that the presidential decree is a response to hostile actions of other countries. “We have always emphasized the absolutely peaceful nature of our foreign policy <…> But we have also always emphasized that all actions that we qualify as unfriendly, hostile, they will never go unanswered <…> The package of measures that is now is accepted, this is, of course, also a retaliatory measure <…> These are not aggressive actions of our country, this is a response, this is the protection of our country from hostile unfriendly actions on the part of those whom we haunt, those who in different ways: through the policy of containment, through attempts at isolation, is trying to stop our development in one way or another, “she explained.
Earlier, Putin signed a decree on the application of measures of influence (counteraction) on unfriendly actions of foreign states. The President decided to limit, and, if necessary, prohibit the conclusion of employment agreements with Russians by diplomatic missions and consular offices, representative offices of state bodies and government agencies of foreign states that commit unfriendly actions towards the Russian Federation. The head of state also instructed the government “to determine the list of unfriendly foreign states in respect of which measures of influence (counteraction) are applied.”
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