Russian Education Ministry to Inquire About US Ban on Russian Physicists

The Russian Ministry of Education will appeal to its US colleagues for clarification about a reported working ban on Russian physicists at US national labs, the ministry told RIA Novosti on Friday. “We are surprised by this initiative, the Ministry of Education and Science has not yet received any official information. Soon we will send an inquiry letter to ask for an explanation,” a spokesperson for the ministry said. The Russian Kommersant newspaper reported Friday that the US Department of Energy had banned its scientists from traveling to Russia and blocked access for Russian scientists to its major physics research centers, citing a letter sent earlier this week to scientists collaborating with Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. “International scientific cooperation is always mutually beneficial, and both unilateral sanctions and the suspension of cooperation would have a negative impact on research groups in the United States,” the ministry added.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140411/189163008/Russian-Education-Ministry-to-Inquire-About-US-Ban-on-Russian.html