Russia Accuses US of Secret Opposition Funding, Aiming to Destabilize Country

"Unlike US embassies, which often use covert money transfers to fund various kinds of opposition groups, with the aim, among other things, to destabilize domestic political situations; this is something that Russia does not do," the ministry noted in an official statement.

The ministry has also demanded Washington to punish those responsible for the disclosure of the confidential data, commenting on Buzzfeed's release of transactions, carried out by Russian diplomatic offices in the US, as well as some of the country's diplomats.

"We urge the US to stop this practice, return to decent behavior, and to resume responsible and orderly interstate communication," the diplomat stressed. "We demand that US authorities finally begin to implement their own national legislation and international obligations, immediately stop the illegal dissemination of confidential information affecting the interests of the Russian Federation and bring to justice those responsible, including those who hold the appropriate posts in the US state apparatus."

The statement went on by calling Buzzfeed an information tool of the US intelligence services.

"It is extremely alarming that on January 17, a media outlet presenting itself as a news portal, but is essentially an information tool of the US intelligence services, the resource "Buzzfeed" published a new portion of confidential information about the transactions of Russian diplomatic institutions in the United States, along with a number of employees of our embassy, both active and former. Obviously, this could not happen without the awareness of the authorities of this country," the document says.

According to the ministry, the Buzzfeed staff admitted that when they tried to request comments from our diplomats, they used contact information from their bank forms.

However, the ministry noted, it is simply impossible to obtain such data without the sanction of the relevant US government bodies.

"In other words, the encroachment on the inviolability of the accounts of the Russian embassy and its personnel with diplomatic immunity is the work of official Washington," the document says.

As the ministry explains, some of the released information has been fabricated or misinterpreted, aiming to use it as a part of the US attempt to accuse Moscow of meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

"But with these accounts, this is no longer just a matter of "fake news", but a real crime, including the violation of the confidentiality of banking information and the disclosure of personal data," the department believes.

In that respect, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Washington does not provide adequate conditions for Russian diplomatic institutions to operate in the country.