US claims that dozens of Russian diplomats and their spouses cheated to get US health care aid meant for the poor has drawn a sharp rebuke from a top Russian official who blamed the criminal case on “Russophobic forces” interested in scuttling progress toward Russia-US cooperation in confronting world conflicts.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov made the remarks on Thursday, carried by Russia’s State news agency, ITAR-Tass, after charges were announced in New York City against 49 current and former Russian diplomats and their wives. He called the charges “no more than a cheap spin effort, no more than a desire to fulfill the order of Russophobic forces in the United States.”