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After the closure, the only American diplomatic center in Russia will be the embassy in Moscow
Consulate of the United States in Russia
From open sources
The Trump administration has notified Congress of its intention to close the last two remaining US consulates in Russia. The Associated Press reports.
The State Department told lawmakers last week that it would permanently close the consulate in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East and temporarily suspend the work of the consulate in Yekaterinburg.
The notice was sent to Congress on December 10. It says the closure is due to restrictions imposed by Russian authorities in 2017 on the number of US diplomats authorized to work in the country. These steps are “a response to current US mission personnel issues in Russia in relation to the restrictions imposed by Russia in 2017 on US mission personnel and, as a result, the deadlock with Russia due to diplomatic visas.”
The consulates in Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg employ 10 American diplomats and 33 local employees.
The exact time of the closure has yet to be determined. According to the report, American personnel will be transferred to the embassy in Moscow and local residents will be fired. The agency estimates that the final closure of the consulate in Vladivostok will save 3.2 million dollars a year.
After the closure, the only American diplomatic center in Russia will be the embassy in Moscow.
Russia previously ordered the closure of the US consulate in St. Petersburg in 2018 after the US ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the UK.
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