OREANDA-NEWS  Threats continue to be sent to the employees of the Russian diplomatic mission in the United States and attempts to persuade them to betray the motherland do not stop. This was stated by the Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov.

"The situation around our foreign institutions in the United States is tense. Our employees continue to be threatened. The so-called invitations to cooperate with the special services are received on the phones, they offer to betray the Motherland and go over to the side of "democratic America". And, of course, American intelligence agencies are making approaches to Russian diplomats," the diplomat said.

Earlier, Antonov said that a large group of Russian diplomats would leave the United States in early January. "The Americans continue their policy of reducing Russia's diplomatic presence in the United States. On January 1, 30 more people are leaving us, who are forced to leave the United States due to visa restrictions by the State Department," the ambassador said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also said that the United States continues to intensify confrontation within the framework of relations with Russia, and in the near future it is not necessary to count on the sanity of American political elites. The diplomat stated that the confrontational course of the United States is becoming increasingly acute, because the administration of President Joe Biden intends to prolong the conflict in Ukraine, considering it as a stage of a hybrid war with Russia.