‘Children as political hostages’: US and Russia trade accusations over denial of visas to teachers at Moscow school
- 30 teachers unable to obtain documents, which could force Anglo-American School patronised by Western diplomats’ children to lower enrolment
- Moscow blames Washington for dispute, saying it was forced to retaliate against treatment of its own diplomats and embassy teachers in the US
The United States and Russia on Wednesday accused each other of using children as political hostages after dozens of teachers at an English-language school in Moscow patronised by the children of Western diplomats were left without visas.
US ambassador Jon Huntsman said 30 teachers who had been due to arrive in Moscow next month had not been able to get visas, a move that he said could force the Anglo-American School of Moscow to scale back the number of children attending.
“Children should not be used as pawns in diplomatic disputes,” Huntsman said in comments shared by the US embassy. He said he hoped to resolve the issue before the school year starts.
But Moscow blamed Washington for the dispute, saying it had been forced to retaliate against US treatment of its own diplomats and embassy teachers in the United States.
This is an own-goal that will affect the business community rather than diplomats
Maria Zakharova, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, accused Washington of starting a visa war two years ago that had made it hard for Moscow to rotate its diplomats through the United States.
She also said that Washington expected Russia to issue diplomatic visas for the teachers in Moscow, even though it was unwilling to issue the same kind of visas for Russian teachers who work in a school on the grounds of the Russian embassy in Washington.