In a Facebook comment on an article in The Washington Post's online version on Friday, the Russian embassy has called the United States the initiator of the "visa war."

“We took note of the article published in the Friday electronic version of The Washington Post, in which, referring to sources in the U.S. State Department, the authors once again mislead their readers and seek to place all the blame for problems related to consular and visa matters on the Russian side.

The information contained in the article does not correspond to the real state of affairs. We would like to remind once again that the responsibility for this ‘stalemate’ lies entirely with the American side. It was the United States that became the initiator of the so-called ‘visa war’, imposing the practice of personal visa exchanges, when employees of Russian foreign missions receive entry permits only in conjunction with the issuance of visas for American staff.

There were no refusals to issue visas to diplomats and other specialists employed by the US missions. We don't have any advantages here. We act strictly on the basis of reciprocity. The number of visas we issue to American officials corresponds to the number of visas received by Russian employees in the United States.

We have repeatedly called on Washington to fully normalize our relations in terms of consular and visa issues.

There is no need to put your brand on the wrong steer. The ball is on the American side,” reads the statement from the Russian Embassy in the United States.