Russia Denies Teacher Visas to U.S. Embassy-Backed Moscow School

(Bloomberg) -- Russia’s Foreign Ministry has denied visas for 30 new teachers at a Moscow school run by the U.S., British and Canadian embassies, in the latest sign of continuing diplomatic tensions with the west.

The ministry informed the U.S. Embassy that it will not process visas for the teachers at the Anglo-American School of Moscow in a move that may force the school to disenroll new and returning students, according to a statement from U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman Wednesday. The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. of misrepresenting the situation, saying it denied only teachers who had applied for visas as embassy employees with diplomatic passports.

“The Russian government has made the unfortunate decision not to issue ‎visas to the incoming teachers who are expected to arrive next month to start the school year,” Huntsman said. “Children should not be used as pawns in diplomatic disputes.”

The Foreign Ministry called the U.S. statement “a blatant lie,” saying that Moscow had sought to normalize the legal and visa status of the school and its staff. “Despite the fact that the school is a commercial entity, teachers come to Moscow with the same passports as Ambassador Huntsman,” the ministry said.

Diplomatic Spats

The Anglo-American School in the past has found itself in the cross-hairs of political spats between Washington and Moscow, with its St. Petersburg campus forced to close after a round of diplomatic expulsions last year in the wake of the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in the U.K.

Director Rhonda Norris did not respond to an emailed request for comment, while the school referred all questions to the embassy.

During the waning days of the Obama administration, CNN reported that the Kremlin planned to order the school closed after a new round of sanctions were imposed on Russia for its alleged interference in the U.S. elections. However, President Vladimir Putin declined to implement retaliatory measures at the time in hopes that Donald Trump would seek better relations.

The Anglo-American School was founded in 1949 by the U.S., British and Canadian governments to educate the children of diplomats, but only a small minority of students there are associated with those embassies. Students also include children from other diplomatic missions, as well as of international businessmen and wealthy Russians. It has about 1,200 students from more than 60 countries enrolled in pre-kindergarten through high school.

“This is an own-goal that will affect the business community rather than diplomats,” Alexis Rodzianko, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Moscow, said. “The investment climate will be the biggest victim.”

--With assistance from Henry Meyer.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jake Rudnitsky in Moscow at jrudnitsky@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at tclark8@bloomberg.net, Gregory L. White, Tony Halpin

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