Zakharova called the mirror restrictions for the diplomatic missions of Finland

The restrictions that Russia has imposed on the accounts of the embassy and consulate general of Finland are mirror-like, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova at briefing.

“We confirm the fact that Russia has introduced restrictions on the use of accounts by the Embassy of Finland and the Finnish Consulate General in St. Petersburg … These actions are a mirror response to similar restrictions on Russian foreign institutions in this country, which can only use an account in one of the Finnish banks ”, she said.

Moscow has repeatedly raised the question of lifting these restrictions before Helsinki and warned of retaliatory actions, but the Finnish side has not taken any action, Zakharova added. Russia will continue to proceed from the principle of reciprocity in the issue of ensuring the work of diplomatic missions, she stressed.

At the same time, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs drew attention to the fact that in Finland, commenting on the restrictions against their diplomatic missions, they “forgot” about the restrictions they themselves introduced in relation to Russian diplomatic missions.

“What a short memory!” Zakharova concluded.

Formerly Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed on blocking the bank accounts of their representative offices in Russia. Then it was about the accounts of the embassy in Moscow and the consulate general of the republic in St. Petersburg. The Finnish Foreign Ministry confirmed to the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper that the assets were frozen and the country could no longer use them.

Embassy of the Russian Federation in Helsinki reported after that, Russian diplomats were given the opportunity to use only Nordea bank since the autumn of last year and the transfer of funds required a “long authorization process” as well as a “prohibitive commission of 5,000 euros”. Based on the principle of reciprocity, Finnish diplomats were given the opportunity to use a Russian bank VTB to make payments to ensure the work of representative offices.

At the end of March, the Finnish authorities froze the bank accounts of the Russian Center for Science and Culture (RCSC) in Helsinki due to EU sanctions until further notice, Talouselämä wrote.