31st May, 2023
dpa/NAN
In response to the expulsion of German diplomatic staff, the government has banned Russia from operating four consulates general in Germany, a Foreign Office spokesman said in Berlin.
From the end of the year, Russia will only be allowed to operate the embassy in Berlin as well as one of its five consulates general, the spokesman said.
The decision is the latest in a diplomatic tit-for-tat.
The Russian Foreign Ministry decided to cap Germany’s representation in the country at 350 staff, a move the German spokesman described on Wednesday as an “initial escalatory step.”
“This unjustified decision forces the German government to make a very significant cut in all areas of its presence in Russia,” he noted.
He said the German government would close its consulates general in Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk, while maintaining a minimal presence at cultural institutions such as German schools and Goethe Institutes.
The German embassy in Moscow and the consulate general in St Petersburg would also be maintained.