Russian Foreign Ministry Submits Note Of Protest To Us Embassy In Moscow Following Actions Of Us Diplomats In Vladivostok

On Saturday the Russian Foreign Ministry submitted to the US Embassy in Moscow a note condemning the actions of officials from the US Consulate General in Vladivostok. This information was obtained on Monday by RIA Novosti from a source close to Russian diplomatic circles. The note evaluates the actions of American diplomats as "a serious violation of generally accepted international norms, which can result in the use of relevant sanctions against those responsible." On Thursday, January 10th, James Shumaker, the US Consul General in Vladivostok, and his colleague Alexander Hamilton, the US Consul for Politics and Economics, participated in a meeting organised by the Social Committee for the Defence of Grigory Pasko who had been recently convicted for espionage by the Military court of the Far Eastern region. Participants in the action picketed the buildings of the Maritime Territorial Department of the Russian Federal Security Service, court of the Russian Pacific Fleet and the Military Prosecutor's office. American diplomats also made a number of incorrect statements referring to the Russian judicial bodies. The US Consulate General in Vladivostok, in its turn, has stated that the US Consul General and his colleague were "observers" and did not participate in the picketing in support of Pasko.