Russia in rent dispute with U.S.

[Katarina]

Russia demanded Monday the United States pay $9 million US in back rent for its ambassador's palatial Moscow residence, for which Washington is paying less than $3 a year.

The dispute arose because the U.S. signed a 20-year agreement for Spaso House in 1985 that fixed the annual rent at 72,500 rubles (about $2,510 US) -- a respectable sum in Soviet times.

However, since runaway post-Soviet inflation forced Russia to knock three zeros off its currency in the mid-1990s, the U.S. has been paying just 72 rubles and 50 kopecks per year, or about $2.50 US.

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