US closes last remaining consulates in Russia amid strained relations
The US is to close its last two consulates in Russia, leaving the embassy in Moscow as Washington’s sole diplomatic mission at a time of heightened tensions between the countries.
The State Department said it would shut its consulate in Vladivostok, a port city in Russia’s far east, and temporarily close its mission in Yekaterinburg, an industrial city bordering Siberia, because of “staffing challenges” caused by a 2017 Russian cap on diplomatic personnel.
The move was announced to Congress days before reports emerged of a suspected Russian cyberattack on American government agencies and companies.
American staff at the two consulates will be moved to Moscow while local employees would be laid off, the State Department told congress.
The move would allow Washington to advance US foreign policy interests in Russia “in the most effective and safe manner possible,” a State Department spokesperson said at the weekend.
No Russian missions in the US would have to close as a result, they said.
Russia forced the American consulate in Saint Petersburg to close two years ago, after the US shuttered a Russian mission in Seattle in the diplomatic fallout over the poisoning of former-intelligence agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
President Putin said in his end-of-year press conference last week that he was willing to work with the “experienced” Joe Biden and hoped that some problems between Russia and the US could be resolved under the new administration.
But he went to lash out at the West, criticising the US for withdrawing from arms control agreements under President Donald Trump and deploying missiles in Europe.
Relations between Russia and the US face further strain when Mr Biden assumes office in January. The US president-elect once told Mr Putin, “I don’t think you have a soul,” and the Kremlin waited weeks to congratulate Mr Biden on his November election victory.
It was not clear whether the consulates will cease activity before or after Mr Biden’s inauguration.
The closure of the consulates in Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok will likely prove a headache for American travelers and business people outside Moscow, as well as Russians hoping to visit the US.
