MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax) - Washington has decided to close the Russian consulate general in Seattle because of a heavy presence of Russian intelligence operatives in the United States, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman told the newspaper Kommersant in an interview on Tuesday.
He said the number of Russian operatives spying on Americans, conducting secret operations, and endangering the U.S.' national security would now reduce.
As to whether he implied that spies were working at the Russian consulate general in Seattle, Huntsman said spies were everywhere.
Huntsman explained the decision to expel members of the Russian mission to the U.S. and the large number of Russian intelligence officers operating in the United States. He said the measures were based on the overall number of employees of Russian security services working in the United States.
Huntsman gave an affirmative answer to the question whether Russian spies were attached to the consulate general in Seattle and the mission to the UN.
It has been decided to cap the number of Russian diplomatic staff in the United States, both in the embassy and the mission to the United Nations, in order to protect Americans, he said. Measures applied to the mission to the United Nations are slightly different from the expulsion of diplomats on the bilateral level consistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and the notice to the United Nations is based on thoroughly prepared evidence, Huntsman said.
The United States coordinated its step with the UN secretary general, Huntsman said. He said this must be done, the notice will be sent, and, to his knowledge, the UN secretary general has made the decision.