The U.S. ambassador directly contacted Russia during weekend unrest and made clear that the United States was not involved, the State Department said Monday.
The State Department said that Ambassador Lynne Tracy in Moscow relayed the message to Russian officials on Saturday, as did U.S. officials in Washington who contacted the Russian embassy.
The United States made contact "to reiterate what we said publicly — that this is an internal Russian affair in which the United States is not involved and will not be involved," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
Tracy and the U.S. officials in Washington also said they "expected Russia to uphold its obligations to protect our embassy and protect diplomatic personnel" based in Moscow, Miller said.
The United States has kept diplomacy to a minimum with Russia since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with higher-level talks largely focused on detained Americans.
