Klintsevich links Washington’s conditions for return of Russian diplomatic property to Trump administration’s attempts to ‘save face’

MOSCOW. July 17 (Interfax) – Franz Klintsevich, first deputy head of the Federation Council committee on defense and security, has called actions taken by Washington, which sets conditions for the return of Russian diplomatic property seized in the United States, strange and said he hopes for the settlement of the situation.

“It is possible that the current U.S. administration now resents the decision made by its predecessors, who started all this. But nevertheless, Donald Trump’s team now has to deal with it and they apparently don’t have a very good idea of how to do it without losing face. Hence the strange attempts to make the return of the Russian diplomatic property subject to getting ‘something in return,’ as well as to link this issue to our actions in Syria,” Klintsevich was quoted by his press service as saying on Monday.

“The so-called dacha conflict is not worth a straw” on the background of the entire range of complex problems characterizing the state of Russian-U.S. relations, but it has now become “a kind of a sensitive spot,” the senator said.

“In my view, we here don’t have a situation when all bridges should be burned. Russian-U.S. relations, which largely determine global security, are absolutely valuable in themselves and any ambitions are out of the question. I think Russian diplomacy will help its U.S. colleagues find a solution to the situation,” he said.