United Nations headquarters in New YorkMOSCOW, Mar 14 USA increasingly abuse the position of the host country of the UN headquarters to extract political benefits, director of the department of international organizations of the Russian Foreign Ministry Petr Ilyichev said in an interview with RIA Novosti. pressure on the missions of other countries,» Ilyichev said. He noted that such actions by Washington violate fundamental international legal norms, including those enshrined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963. Last week, on a special flight Russian diplomats arrived from the United States to the Russian Federation, who worked in the Permanent Mission to the UN. In the US, they were accused of espionage and decided to be expelled from the country. In total, about 50 people left New York, including family members. The press secretary of the US Permanent Mission to the UN, Olivia Dalton, previously called the expelled diplomats «operational intelligence officers of the Russian Federation.» Russian employee of the secretariat of the organization. The Russian Foreign Ministry promised to respond to these US steps and urged Washington to show prudence and not go for further escalation. As Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, the meaning of what is happening and the moment chosen for this purely hostile action are obvious — to increase pressure, increase blackmail and intimidation 
The Foreign Ministry said it was unrealistic to exclude Russia from the UN Security Council
