The day after the announcement of the expulsion of 12 diplomats from the Russian mission to the UN, the United States revealed on Tuesday that it had asked the Organization – a little perplexed –, the departure of an “intelligence agent working” within its general secretariat, against a backdrop of extreme American-Russian tensions linked to the war in Ukraine.
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This double announcement enveloped the UN headquarters on the edge of the East River in Manhattan with a strong scent of the Cold War, even if the place is regularly described by diplomats as “a nest of spies”.
“On February 28, the United States launched a procedure to demand the departure of a Russian intelligence agent working at the United Nations who abused his privileges of residence in the United States”, announced to AFP a door. -spokesman of the American diplomatic mission to the Organization.
Asked whether it was a man or a woman, the American mission declined to comment, recalling that the traditional policy of the United States in this type of case was not to reveal the names of the individuals involved.
Asked whether a link was to be established with the war in Ukraine, the mission replied, seeming to want to distinguish its requests for the departure of Russians from the American response to the invasion of Ukraine: “This action, like that announced yesterday (Monday), had been in the works for months.
During his daily press briefing, the spokesperson for the UN, Stéphane Dujarric, while confirming the American request related to an employee working at the General Secretariat, however specified that the contract of the employee concerned was due to expire on the half-March.
“What makes this decision a little difficult to understand is that the staff member was due to complete their assignment on March 14,” he said, without further comment on his exact position, if he or she worked with the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, on the 38th floor of the glass building that houses his offices.
Due to his privacy rights and the “sensitive” nature of the case, “I will not comment further,” the spokesperson said.
Asked about its reaction, the Russian mission to the UN confined itself to replying to AFP that it was “a situation between the UN and the employee” in question.
“Bad news”
On Monday, the United States confirmed that it had taken the decision to expel twelve members of the Russian diplomatic mission to the UN before March 7, accused of “espionage”, revealed by the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, spectacularly, in the middle of a press conference after taking a call on his mobile phone.
“It’s a hostile step against our country,” reacted the Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, in a statement posted on Facebook, adding that this act of the American administration aroused “deep disappointment and a absolute rejection” in Moscow.
Deputy Russian Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy then told AFP that the expulsion decision did not concern Vassily Nebenzia, himself, or Deputy Russian Ambassador for African Affairs Anna Evstigneeva.
“It’s bad news,” reacted to the media Vassily Nebenzia.
Without mentioning a link with the conflict in Ukraine, the United States in a press release explained that the twelve employees of the Russian mission had “abused” their diplomatic status in the United States “by engaging in espionage activities contrary to our national security”.
For the Russian diplomatic mission, by proceeding in this way, the United States is in breach of its commitments as a host country of the United Nations, for the rules applicable to foreign diplomats working at the UN.
Washington, for its part, assures that it has respected these rules.
The Russian mission to the UN has around 100 people, according to a Russian diplomatic source.
Both the announcement of the expulsion and the decision to request the departure of a Russian UN employee came on the last day of Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council, which rotates every month. On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates took over the presidency for the month of March.