A top-notch Russian official strongly denied a report that accused Moscow's covert involvement in drugging two U.S officials with diplomatic passports in St. Petersburg, RussiaThe Russians are outraged. Their Deputy Foreign Minister issued a statement saying that the allegations may be part and parcel of a bigger scheme of things. This might have to do with the U.S State Department seeking retribution for the collapse of negotiations between the two countries to address the Syrian crisis.
Citing The Guardian, Russia's denial emerged after the story popped up on Radio Liberty. It claimed that a man and a woman who weren't senior officials had their drinks spiked with a date-rape drug last year. The State Department observed subtle reservations and quietly objected to Russian officials.
The story even claimed that one of the officials, after being drugged, had to go seek medical treatment at a clinic. Russia denies the occurrence of any such event. Carrying out further investigation, Russia revealed that no Americans had sought treatment at any St. Petersburg medical institutions, adding that if they had been casually boozing at a bar, they're themselves to blame.
The Russian investigators responded promptly to U.S allegations but when Russia asked for the 'specifics' regarding the complaint, the U.S Embassy didn't respond and failed even to provide the names of the victims.
While the State Department declined to pass any comments on the controversial report, it has time and time again pressed matters against Russia, claiming that U.S officials have been expressing great concern for the way they're treated in Russia. This particularly pertains to how the diplomatic personnel have experienced harassment in Moscow behind the label of surveillance carried out by the security and traffic police.
Earlier this week, the U.S suspended ongoing negotiations with Russia over the matter of Syrian crisis and how to accomplish a perpetual pause in the hostilities in the region. Secretary of State John Kerry impugned the Russians for this emerging deadlock because of their support for the Syrian Assad regime. Perhaps this sizzling hotpot of a situation emerges from something that's much hidden from the public eye.
It's becoming increasingly evident that the two camps are facing much disagreement over international avenues of exercising political hegemony. All we can do now is hope that they don't fall into the same arena of war as the cold war that happened not so long ago.
