Moscow Furious Over US Plan To Search Russia Trade Mission, Calls It "Unprecedented Aggressive Action”

Yesterday, the San Francisco fire department scrambled a team of firefighters to the city"s Russian consulate (scheduled to be vacated today in the latest tit-for-tat diplomatic escalation between the US and Russia) following reports of "blowing smoke" emerging from the building, only to learn that the Russians were engaged in what appears to have been some last minute confidential document "redaction."

Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, explained that the smoke was part of a “mothballing” according to Reuters.

“In relation to this, the windows could be closed, the light could be turned off, the water could be drained out, the heating appliances could be turned off, the garbage could be thrown away, essential services could be turned off and many other things."

Of course, what was really going on was 11th hour document destruction (albeit the old-fashioned way, one not involving a hammer, blackberries, and thousands of deleted emails) and as subsequent events have showed, the Russians had reason to be paranoid: on Saturday, the US unveiled its intention to search the soon to be vacant Russian trade mission in Washington, a move which has infuriated Moscow, prompting Russia to summon the deputy chief of mission of the US Embassy in Moscow to lodge a note of protest over the planned search.

Anthony F. Godfrey was summoned to the ministry on Saturday, it said in a statement, adding that Russian diplomats have been denied access to the trade mission building despite it being owned by Russia and protected by diplomatic immunity. 

The ministry called the planned “illegal inspection” of Russian diplomatic housing an “unprecedented aggressive action”, which could be used by the U.S. special services for “anti-Russian provocations” by the way of “planting compromised items”.

“We consider the planned illegal search of Russian diplomatic premises in the absence of Russian officials and the threat we have received to break down the door of the building as an aggressive action, which the US intelligence service may use to orchestrate an anti-Russian provocation by planting compromising items."

We call on Washington to refrain from compromising the immunity of Russian missions in the USA https://t.co/A4eTKbhVUa#RussiaUSA pic.twitter.com/A8YkrLCWNP

— MFA Russia ???????? (@mfa_russia) September 2, 2017

Moscow has called on Washington to stop violating international law and refrain from compromising the immunity of Russian missions in the country. Otherwise, retaliation may follow, the ministry warned. On Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the FBI was planning to search the general consulate premises, including homes of the diplomatic staff, which would violate diplomatic immunity.

Former US diplomats, questioned the reasons behind the searches, saying it will only lead to a further escalation of tensions. The US authorities are highly unlikely to find “anything of interest” in the Russian Consulate in San Francisco, as there is probably nothing more than “confidential diplomatic materials,” which are supposed to be there anyway, said Ted Seay, a former US diplomat.

“What are our people going to do in your ambassador’s apartments or in the consulate in San Francisco? Look for illegal recipes for borsch? Of course, you have to respond and to go into our consulate in St. Petersburg – looking for what? Perhaps, for too many copies of Doctor Zhivago in the embassy’s library?” John Graham, former US ambassador to Libya, said.

“This foolishness happens [but] it happens usually at the lower levels,” he added. Meanwhile, Seay warned that “things are already too tense between the two countries” and both sides should proceed with “great care. To me, that means again that anyone who is actually planning to raid diplomatic premises in San Francisco, has lost their mind,” the former US diplomat said.

US Authorities are Refusing to Reveal How Russian Ambassador to the UN Died

New York City officials, wishing not to be identified and only speaking under the condition of anonymity, revealed the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Vitaly Churkin suffered from a heart attack when he collapsed in his office last month in New York. An autopsy was performed, presumably a result of his diplomatic status, yet the underlying cause of the heart attack is being withheld.

Exactly what caused the ambassador’s death is known, but according to the Associated Press (AP), those who are in the know, aren’t allowed to say. “An autopsy was performed on Churkin last month, but the death required further study. The additional tests had been completed, but Julie Bolcer, a spokeswoman for the city’s medical examiner, said the city’s Law Department told the office not to release any further information ‘to comply with international law and protocol,"” writes the AP.

As The Free Thought Project reported earlier, Churkin was highly critical of his U.S. and U.K. counterparts who preferred escalation of the Syrian conflict over measures which would produce a peaceful resolution to the Middle East’s latest international conflict, which may serve as the stage to World War III. Churkin’s obituary, first reported by The Guardian, indicated the ambassador, “hated the moralising tone of his US, British and French counterparts on the UN security council who, he felt, were not only hypocritical but were playing to the global gallery and aiming to score rhetorical points instead of looking for compromises that could lead to the resolution of differences. This applied particularly to the war in Syria, about which western governments tabled resolutions.”

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Churkin was one of 7 Russian diplomats identified by The Free Thought Project who’d died mysteriously since the presidential election of 2016. And while his official cause of death is a heart attack, the factors leading up to it are still shrouded in mystery. Were there any substances in his system which would have caused his death? Was he taking heart medications? Who would have wanted he and the other six diplomats dead? These questions and more remain unanswered, even as NYC officials, who wish to remain in the dark, are reassuring the Russian official’s death was not a result of foul play.

UN officials are running interference in an apparent attempt explain away whey they’re unable to release the cause of death. James Donovan, minister counselor for host country affairs for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, told the AP in a statement, “The United States insists on the dignified handling of the remains of our diplomatic personnel who pass away abroad (including in Russia) and works to prevent unnecessary disclosures regarding the circumstances of their deaths.” Nonetheless, more questions remain.

The U.S. State Department is also involved in keeping the details of Churkin’s death a closely guarded state secret. The federal agency, “asked the city in writing on Feb. 24 not to reveal the autopsy results because Churkin’s diplomatic immunity survives his death,” writes the AP.

Later on March 1, the State Department sent another letter to the city revealing Russian officials were very concerned with the proceedings of the autopsy and subsequent discussions with the media about Churkin’s medical history, something they should not have done. Even Donovan penned a letter to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office of International Affairs, expressing concern over the city’s discussions of Churkin’s medical history.

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For those seeking fodder for conspiracy theories, it must be noted that Churkin was a member of the UN Security Council. It consists of “China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms,” according to the UN website. Discussions at the security council are often heated and contentious. Just two weeks before his death, Churkin made international headlines when he quoted from the US Constitution after being lambasted by a recently appointed member to the council, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

Haley passionately called for Russia to return Crimea to the Ukraine and promised, “Until Russia and the separatists it supports respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, this crisis will continue.” After the meeting adjourned, Churkin told reporters, “In this regard, one cannot forget the remarkable historical words that are found in the constitution of the United States: ‘We the people’…The people of Crimea quite clearly expressed their will in a referendum.” Not shrinking away from cries for Russia to leave the Ukraine and return Crimea to the sovereign country, Churkin told reporters the UK should first return the Malvinas islands which are claimed by Argentina, Gibraltar claimed by the Spanish, and the “annexed part of Cyprus which you turned into a huge military base.”