Embassy of the United States, Moscow

Embassy of the United States, Moscow
Native name Russian: Посольство Соединенных Штатов Америки Москва
New embassy as seen from the street
Location	Bolshoy Deviatinsky Pereulok No. 8 Presnensky District, Moscow, Russia
Coordinates	55°45′20″N 37°34′59″E / 55.755556°N 37.583056°ECoordinates: 55°45′20″N 37°34′59″E / 55.755556°N 37.583056°E
Opened	June 2000[1]
Ambassador	John F. Tefft
Location of Embassy of the United States, Moscow in Russia

The Embassy of the United States of America in Moscow is the diplomatic mission of the United States of America in the Russian Federation. The embassy complex located in the Presnensky District in the city center of Moscow. Its address is: Bolshoy Deviatinsky Pereulok No. 8.^[2] The US citizen center is located nearby at 21 Novinskiy Bulvar.^[3]

The old building of the embassy of the United States in Moscow.

Organization

The embassy consists of the following sections:^[4]

• Political Section
• Management Section
• Regional Security Office
• Economic Affairs Section
• Public Affairs Section
• Consular Section
• Environment, Science, Technology, & Health Section
• Law Enforcement Section

In addition, representatives of a number of U.S. federal agencies work in the embassy.^[4]

The embassy oversees the following Consulates General in Russia: Saint Petersburg,^[5] Vladivostok^[6] and Yekaterinburg.^[7]

Building

Construction of a new embassy building began in 1979. In 1985, the building's columns, which had been built by Soviet workers, were found to be riddled with covert listening devices, to such an extent that classified information had to be handled in the old embassy. In retaliation, Soviet diplomats were not allowed to occupy their new embassy in Washington, DC. The standoff was resolved in 1994 when American workers were allowed to partially dismantle and rebuild the embassy with four completely new upper floors. In 2000, the new building was finally opened with classified business confined to the upper floors, while standard consular business is conducted in the insecure lower floors.^[8]

On a Russian television program, Igor Korotchenko, editor of a magazine called National Defense and a former specialist in Russia's military command, described the structure of the current embassy building as follows: "The N.S.A. is a global electronic vacuum cleaner, which monitors everything. Look at the top two floors of the new building of the U.S. Embassy—it's a huge antenna, which listens to the Moscow air."^[9]

Ambassadors

The position of United States Ambassador to Russia is currently held by John F. Tefft, a career U.S. Foreign Service Officer who was recalled from retirement to serve his fourth ambassadorship.^[10]

See also

• Diplomatic missions in Russia
• Diplomatic missions of the United States
• Russia–United States relations
• Soviet–United States relations
• Embassy of Russia in Washington

References

1. The New Chancery of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow
2. moscow.usembassy.gov/contact-us. Retrieved 2008-10-08
3. moscow.usembassy.gov/acs-hours. Retrieved 2008-10-08
4. moscow.usembassy.gov/offices. Retrieved 2008-10-08
5. stpetersburg.usconsulate.gov. Retrieved 2008-10-08
6. vladivostok.usconsulate.gov. Retrieved 2008-10-08
7. yekaterinburg.usconsulate.gov. Retrieved 2008-10-08
8. Lally, Kathy (2000-07-08). "U.S. Finally Opens Moscow Embassy / Building was delayed 15 years after Russians riddled it with bugs". SFGate. San Francisco: Hearst Communications. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
9. Barry, Ellen (June 28, 2013). "While N.S.A. Leaker Stays in Hiding, Russian TV Builds a Pedestal for Him". The New York Times. pp. 1–2. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
10. "Ambassador | Embassy of the United States Moscow, Russia". Retrieved September 6, 2014.

External links

• Embassy of the United States - Moscow — United States Department of State