El Consulado General de Estados Unidos se cerrará en San Petersburgo
RF Foreign Ministry Representative announced the expulsion of 60 American diplomats and the closure of the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg.
On Thursday, the authorities announced the expulsion of 58 diplomats from the US Embassy in Moscow and two diplomates from the Consulate in Yekaterinburg as well as the closure of the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg. Diplomats must leave Russia before April 5th.
As stressed, this is a response to the decision of the US authorities to expel 60 Russian diplomats and close the Russian Consulate General in Seattle.
At the same time, a number of EU countries, Norway, Canada, Ukraine and some other states also announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats due to the “Skripal Affair”. It should be recalled that the former GRU officer working for the British special services Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious in the British Salisbury in early March.
The official representative of the department Heather Nauert recalled that the Consulate General in St. Petersburg was engaged in issuing visas and interviewing Russians.
“When we are forced to close our facilities, when we are forced to cut down our staff, we have fewer people who can answer these questions,” she added.
According to the press secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov, Russia took countermeasures in response to illegal actions of Washington.
At the same time, it is stressed that the closure of the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg won’t affect the tourist flow, the decline is not expected.
