Russia tells its citizens to avoid travel to the West

MOSCOW (Reuters): Russia said on Wednesday that relations with the United States were so confrontational that Russian citizens should not travel to the United States, Canada and some EU countries because they were at risk of being “hunted” down by US authorities.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said that relations with the United States were teetering on the verge of rupture.

“In the context of the increasing confrontation in Russian-American relations, which are teetering on the verge of rupture due to the fault of Washington, trips to the United States of America privately or out of official necessity are fraught with serious risks,” Zakharova told a news briefing.

“We urge you to continue to refrain from trips to the United States of America and its allied satellite states, including, first of all, Canada and, with a few exceptions, European Union countries, during these holidays,” she said.

Russian and US diplomats say the relationship between the two countries is worse than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis due to disagreements over the Ukraine war.

Relations reached crisis point last month over Ukraine’s use of US and British missiles to strike Russian territory and Russia lowered its nuclear threshold.

Both Moscow and Washington accuse each other of detaining citizens on trumped-up charges that have no foundation.