U.S. officials did not break down doors or conduct searches at seized Russian diplomatic properties, contrary to Moscow’s claims, a State Department official told the state-run TASS news agency.
“The Russian government’s accusations that U.S. officials broke doors at these facilities, and that the FBI conducted searches there, don’t correspond to reality,” the official said.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday summoned a U.S. Embassy official to protest the searches “without the presence of Russian officials.” The ministry also accused U.S. officials of threatening to “break down the entrance door” to the consulate in San Francisco.
The State Department ordered Moscow to shutter its consulate in San Francisco and annexes in New York and Washington by Sept. 2.
The unidentified State Department official told TASS on Tuesday that Russian Embassy officials had been invited to survey the San Francisco, New York and Washington D.C. facilities together with State Department officials.