Foreign affairs

FBI could be planting ‘compromising material’ during searches of Russian SF Consulate – Zakharova

FBI operatives conducting searches at Russia’s San Francisco Consulate may be there to craft “a provocation” or plant “compromising materials” targeting Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.


Zakharova was commenting on the ongoing searches inside Russian consular premises in San Francisco. Earlier, the consulate had to close on September 2, after Washington had given Moscow two days to do so.

“Is it an attempt by the American security services to organize an anti-Russian provocation and, probably, to plant compromising materials into the building and then somehow find them inside?”Zakharova said during a regular news briefing on Friday.
The spokeswoman said Moscow is totally unaware of what has been happening inside the consulate compound.

“Special equipment has been delivered there and some works are being conducted,” she said.

Zakharova also added that according to information obtained by Moscow, the US security services, particularly the FBI, were behind “everything that is happening to Russian diplomats.”

The Russian Consulate in San Francisco, as well as two trade missions in Washington, DC, and New York City, were forced to close last week. The State Department maintained the move was reciprocal and came in retaliation to Moscow’s decision to significantly cut the number of American diplomatic staff in Russia.