Russia accuses U.S. of wrongly granting citizenship to diplomats' children

MOSCOW, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Monday accused the U.S. State Department of unlawfully granting American citizenship to children of Russian diplomats born in the United States, a move Moscow says violates international norms and bilateral diplomatic practice.

In Vedomosti, a Russian business daily, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote that U.S. authorities were invoking "birthright citizenship" to automatically register such children as U.S. citizens.

She argued that this practice contradicts international and national law, the policy of U.S. President Donald Trump, and the will of the parents.

"The deep state in the United States has created a new problem to pressure Russian diplomats, disregarding the fact that this is becoming a glaring example of the decline of the so-called 'American democracy'," she said.

Zakharova recalled that U.S. legislation clearly excludes the right of diplomats' children to obtain U.S. citizenship through "birthright citizenship."

In her view, the U.S. State Department aims to undermine Trump's anti-immigration policies and the process of eliminating "friction points" in Russia-U.S. relations, while also using the children's citizenship as a pretext to put pressure on Russian diplomats.

"The Russian side does not recognize the imposition of American citizenship on Russian citizens born in the families of our diplomatic, administrative, technical and consular staff in the United States. We will demand that the Americans confirm that the newborn is not under U.S. jurisdiction," she added. Enditem