The United Nations urges the United States to live up to its commitments as pressure mounts on Russian diplomats

TASS – The United Nations has urged the United States to fulfill its obligations as a host country, amid allegations of psychological coercion imposed by the US intelligence services on staff of the Permanent Mission of Russia to the international organization, according to Deputy Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Farhan Haq. “The only thing I have to say about this is that we are in frequent contact with the United States as a host country and we require it to fulfill all its obligations regarding the treatment of foreign delegations,” he said.

Russia’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Maria Zabolotskaya, earlier claimed that US intelligence agencies are seeking to exert psychological pressure on members of Russia’s permanent mission to the United Nations. He explained, “The updated information we have received shows that the United States continues to implement a series of measures and restrictions in relation to our permanent mission and its members, with the aim of limiting the effectiveness of our interaction with the United Nations and exerting psychological pressure on Russian diplomats.” He said. “There is no other way to explain the increasingly invasive recruitment methods of the intelligence services of the host country, whose officers approach members of the mission on the street, at the airport, including Yahoo, and on video hosting platforms with a request for cooperation with the FBI,” the Russian deputy permanent representative noted. “It’s not just about the Internet. Propaganda leaflets of similar content are regularly placed outside the permanent mission building and the apartment complex, as well as along the way of our diplomats at work,” Zabolotskaya added.