The diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Russia has always been a little “different.” Call it “games,” or whatever you want but the two countries have always spared over all kinds of issues — significant and trivial.
Having had a bit of first-hand experience in the past, I thought it was interesting to read a day or so ago about one of the latest ‘Incidents.”
Back in April, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a ruling prohibiting any locally-hired employees from working for the U.S. — the only exception being security guards. That ruling became effective on August 1.
Ten years ago, there were close to 350 U.S. diplomats in Russia who were supported by about 1,900 “foreign service nationals.” Many of the “local hires” performed routine administrative, technical, cleaning, maintenance, and cooking chores. Now, American foreign service officers will have to take time away from issuing visas and other diplomatic chores to clean floors, do laundry, etc.
Putin’s move was a reaction to the U.S. kicking out some Russian diplomats this past spring.
On August 5th, the U.S. State Department issued a Russia Travel Advisory, warning Americans not to travel to Russia due to possible terrorism and harassment by Russian government security officials. The advisory went on to say it was issued because the arbitrary enforcement of local laws left the embassy with limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia.
So — if you were thinking of a trip to Russia to pick up a bottle or two of good vodka, you might want to re-think those plans.
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