The Russian government has issued an odd travel warning to its citizens — beware of the United States.
Travel warnings typically warn citizens of war, disease, other unrest. This announcement from the Russian Foreign Ministry warns against U.S. extradition law.
“Recently, detentions of Russian citizens in various countries, at the request of American law enforcement, have become more frequent — with the goal of extradition and legal prosecution in the United States.”
The announcement goes on to assert that people wanted by the United States who travel to countries with extradition treaties with the U.S. are kidnapped with shaky evidence and tilted toward conviction.
It's a bit of an endzone dance for Russia, which offered asylum to the fugitive NSA-contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden, despite U.S. pleas for extradition.
After Russia welcomed Snowden, the U.S. cancelled planned meetings between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The move is reminiscent of how the Assad regime in Syria issued a travel warning against Turkey when there were protests earlier this summer. More than 300,000 Syrians have sought refuge in Turkey from the violence in their home country.