Overview
- Russia’s Foreign Ministry, in a Vedomosti column reported Monday, said the State Department is registering children of Russian consular staff born in the U.S. as American citizens.
- Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova cited the 1964 bilateral Consular Convention and its Article 24, arguing consular families are exempt from compulsory obligations by the host state.
- Moscow said it will not recognize any imposed citizenship and will press Washington to confirm that affected newborns are not under U.S. jurisdiction.
- Zakharova warned the move could give U.S. officials leverage over Russian personnel and she argued U.S. law excludes diplomats’ children from birthright citizenship, which normally grants citizenship to most people born on U.S. soil.
- The reports from TASS, The Statesman, and The Sentinel note no public State Department response, and analysts may see the dispute as another point of strain in U.S.–Russia ties.