Diplomat outlines intensified US efforts to recruit Russian UN mission members

US intelligence agencies seek to put psychological pressure on members of the Russian permanent mission to the United Nations, Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Maria Zabolotskaya has said.

"The updated information that we have received makes it clear that the US continues to implement a whole set of measures and restrictions towards our permanent mission and its members, which are aimed at reducing the effectiveness of our interaction with the UN and putting psychological pressure on Russian diplomats," TASS cites her as saying at a meeting of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country.

"There is no other way to explain the increasingly intrusive recruitment approaches of the host country’s intelligence services, whose officers come up to the mission members on the street and at the airport. Moreover, they use contextual ads on social media, search engines, including Yahoo, and on video hosting platforms in order to call for cooperation with the FBI," the Russian deputy permanent representative noted.

"It’s not just about the Internet. Propaganda leaflets of similar content are regularly put up outside the permanent mission’s building and its residential compound, as well as along our diplomats’ way to work," Zabolotskaya added.