Russia Shuts Out Peace Corps After Allegations
Russia said it will no longer accept Peace Corps volunteers after alleging that the workers are poorly trained and have ties to U.S. security services, the U.S. Embassy said Friday.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said that his government was grateful for the Peace Corps’ assistance but that Russia’s needs have changed since 1992, when the volunteers first started going to Russia.
“Due to the changing economic and social tasks facing our country, we are holding consultations with the American side on how new forms of partnership could be worked out more in line with today’s needs,” he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
Earlier this year, the Russian government refused without explanation to issue entry visas for new volunteers or to extend the visas of 30 of the 64 Peace Corps workers already in the country.
The head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, Nikolai P. Patrushev, suggested earlier this month that some volunteers had been spying.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, denied Patrushev’s claims and expressed regret about the decision.
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