MOSCOW. Oct 17 (Interfax) - U.S. diplomats tried to enter secure facilities in the Arkhangelsk region, neglecting rules on notification, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"When the U.S. officers arrived there, a police patrol stopped them at the station. They were told they were in a zone where visits were restricted. And as they did not have special permission to stay there - they could not have had it because they had not requested it - in that connection it was proposed to the Americans that they take the same train back," Zakharova said on Thursday.
The U.S. diplomats requested from the Russian Defense Ministry permission to visit Arkhangelsk, "not somewhere further," she said.
"Instead of that, they arrived in Severodvinsk in a rented car with a Russian number plate. There they took a local train and went to a populated area where there is a testing ground and other defense facilities nearby," Zakharova said.