Russia has issued a travel warning to its citizens as it said tensions with the US are “teetering on the verge of rupture”.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, urged citizens on Wednesday to “refrain from trips to the US, Canada and with a few exceptions EU countries” over the Christmas period.
She said those that travel were at risk of being “hunted” down by US authorities.
“In the context of the increasing confrontation in Russian-American relations, which are teetering on the verge of rupture due to the fault of Washington, trips to the United States of America privately or out of official necessity are fraught with serious risks,” Ms Zakharova said.
She did not elaborate which EU countries were exempt from the travel recommendations.
Although travel warnings between Russia, the US and beyond are nothing new, diplomats in both Moscow and Washington say the relationship between the two countries is worse than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis due to disagreements over the Ukraine war.
Last month, relations were further strained over Ukraine’s use of US and British missiles to strike deep inside Russian territory and Russia lowering its nuclear threshold.
Both sides also accuse each other of detaining citizens on charges that have no foundation.
Russia not ready to make concessions
Incoming US president Donald Trump has urged both sides to agree to an immediate truce, saying it is Vladimir Putin’s “time to act”.
Writing on social media on 8 December, the president-elect called for an “immediate ceasefire”.
Referring to his closeness to Mr Putin, he added: “I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The world is waiting!”
(L-R) Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Pic: AP
During an interview on NBC’s Meet The Press, Sky News’ US partner network, Mr Trump would not confirm if he had spoken to Russia’s leader since winning the election in November because he said he didn’t want “to do anything that could impede the negotiation”.
However, the ceasefire call is the clearest effort so far to resolve one of the world’s major crises before he takes office on 20 January and contrasts with the Biden administration, which has made a point of not being seen to press Kyiv for an immediate truce.
Responding to Mr Trump on Wednesday, Ms Zakharova said Moscow was not ready to make concessions when it came to Ukraine and anyone who thought so had “either a short memory or not enough knowledge of the subject”.
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Trump’s plan to end the Ukraine war?
She added that Mr Putin’s own proposals on how to end the conflict – which involves Ukraine not joining NATO and Russia claiming four Ukrainian regions – would need to be implemented if there is to be peace.
It comes after Russia’s spy chief Sergei Naryshkin said his country was close to achieving its goals in Ukraine.
Mr Naryshkin told the official publication of the Kremlin’s SVR foreign intelligence agency that Russia had the initiative in all areas and “the situation on the front is not in Kyiv’s favour”.
“We are close to achieving our goals, while the armed forces of Ukraine are on the verge of collapse,” he claimed earlier this week.
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Russia initially hoped to rapidly capture the whole of Ukraine when it invaded in February 2022.
That goal has been significantly harder due to Ukraine’s strong resistance, however, Moscow has slowly been edging forward in recent months and Russian strikes across the country continue to kill civilians.