Russian Foreign
Ministry pointed out that the steps of US administration, which arrested
Russian citizen Butina in the United States basing on trumped-up charges, are inadmissible
MOSCOW, July 21.
/TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov underscored in his telephone
conversation with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that US actions against
Russian citizen Maria Butina were inadmissible, the Russian Foreign Ministry
said on Saturday.
"Lavrov has
pointed out that the steps of US administration, which arrested Russian citizen
Butina in the United States basing on trumped-up charges, are inadmissible and
that she should be released as soon as possible," the statement says.
The 29-year-old Maria
Butina was arrested in Washington on July 15. The Russian gun rights activist
faces the charges of conspiracy for conducting activities in the interests of a
foreign state. The investigators claim she engaged in these activities without
registering as a foreign agent at the US Department of Justice.
The FBI said earlier
this week Butina entered the US in August 2016 on a student visa and took up
studies at the American University. She received the master’s degree in
international relations in May 2018, according to her lawyer.
Butina is a member of
the board of the Russian public associations ‘The Right to Guns’. In this
capacity, she attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington in February
2017 where President Donald Trump took part.
On July 20, Russian
Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov slammed Butina’s arrest as a farce,
promising Moscow would insist on its release.
Source: ITAR-TASS
22-07-2018
