The suspension of nonimmigrant visa operations in Russia is "not about being vindictive," US Ambassador to Russia John Tefft said in an interview with TASS.

Axar.az reports citing TASS that, "It's not about being vindictive. It's about being able to do this properly," the diplomat said. "And we will start again on September the 1st." "And it's unfortunate but we don't have any choice because we have a lot of responsibilities here. The government is requiring us to have fewer people to do them. It's as simple as that," he explained.

"This is simply because we've been told by the Foreign Ministry that we have to cut down out staff to 455. And so we're in the process of doing that right now," Tefft went on to say. He noted that visa issuance process involves not only employees of the Consular Section. "It's not just a question of visa officers. It's all the processing. It's the security," he stressed.

The ambassador noted that residents of Crimea "can apply for a visa here in Moscow," if they have Russian passports. He also confirmed that the US diplomatic mission in Moscow will stop issuing visas to Belarusian citizens after September 1. "They will have to go to another embassy like Warsaw or Kiev or some other to apply to get their visas," the diplomat added.