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In December, then
U.S. president Barack Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russians
over what he said was their involvement in hacking last year's
U.S. presidential election, allegations Moscow flatly denies.
The U.S. authorities seized two Russian diplomatic compounds,
one in Maryland and another on Long Island, at the same time.
Moscow did not retaliate, saying it would wait to see if
relations improved under the incoming U.S. president, Donald
Trump.
Kommersant, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, said on Friday
that Moscow wanted the compounds back before a possible meeting
at the G20 in Germany in July between Russian President Vladimir
Putin and Trump.
If that did not happen, the newspaper cited the sources as
saying Russia could retaliate by seizing a U.S. diplomatic
dacha, or country house, in Serebryany Bor in north-west Moscow
and a U.S. diplomatic warehouse in Moscow.
It said that Russian authorities could also complicate life for
Moscow's Anglo-American school by altering its legal status.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry,
said on Thursday that Moscow was still waiting for the return of
its U.S. compounds and could retaliate in kind if that did not
happen.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christian Lowe)
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