The US Embassy in Moscow commented on Monday on the initiative to rename the street the embassy sits on following Washington’s decision to rename a street outside the Russian Embassy in Washington DC in honor of late Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.

Axar.az reports citing TASS.

"Anyone can talk about dead ends, but as US diplomats we prefer to focus on finding a way forward toward a more constructive US-Russia relationship," Spokesperson at the US Embassy in Moscow Maria Olson said on Monday.

An initiative to give the name of Severoamerikansky Tupik (North American Dead End) to a yard pass adjoining the US ambassadorial compound came from the chairman of the State Duma committee for sports, tourism and youth policies, Mikhail Degtyaryov, who represents the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). In line with his proposal, the embassy’s address in Moscow would then be 1 North American Dead End.

At present, the official address is 8, Devyatinsky Pereulok. Earlier reports said the Moscow Mayor’s Office soon will consider the idea of changing the US embassy’s mailing address in Moscow.

The proposal came as a reaction to Washington DC city council’s passing a bill on renaming the block in front of the Russian embassy in honor of Nemtsov.

Boris Nemtsov, former deputy prime minister under then-President Boris Yeltsin, co-chairman of the Parnas party and lawmaker from the Yaroslavl regional legislature, was gunned down in downtown Moscow on February 27, 2015.

Five individuals were arrested on suspicion of murdering the politician: Zaur Dadayev, Anzor and Shadid Gubashev, Temirlan Eskerkhanov and Khamzat Bakhayev. In July 2017, the convicted perpetrators received sentences ranging from 11 to 20 years in a maximum security penal colony.

According to investigators, Ruslan Mukhudinov, a former officer of the Chechen Sever (or North), is the mastermind and organizer of the murder. Mukhudinov was charged in absentia. He has been on an international wanted list since November 2015. A criminal case against him is being investigated separately.