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Russia orders closure of Germany’s St. Petersburg consulate and cultural centers
Russia ordered Germany’s consulate general in St. Petersburg to cease operations by September 18. Moscow said the decision was in response to Germany’s steps to close a Russian consulate and cultural center.
Moscow decided to close Germany’s consulate general in St. Petersburg and German cultural centers across Russia as diplomatic tensions with Germany escalated.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry ordered the diplomats and employees of Germany’s Consulate General in St. Petersburg to cease operations by September 18 and leave Russia. Employees at the Goethe-Institut branches in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg were given until this Sunday to do so.
Moscow responds
Russian authorities announced the closures in retaliation for Germany’s closure last week of Russia’s Consulate General in Bonn and the Russian cultural center in Berlin. Berlin took that step after holding Moscow responsible for an alleged drone attack reportedly attempted last month at Leipzig/Halle Airport.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Germany’s ambassador in Moscow and conveyed its retaliatory decisions. The ministry argued that the German government had initiated a new cycle of tensions in bilateral relations and would bear responsibility for the consequences.
Putin and Lavrov accuse Berlin
Vladimir Putin alleged that evidence had been planted to enable Germany to blame Moscow for the incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Berlin’s accusations against Russia effectively amounted to a declaration of war.
Lavrov had announced that the Goethe-Institut centers in Russia would also be closed after the Russian cultural center in Berlin was shut down last week. The Goethe-Institut opened its first branch in Russia in Moscow in 1992, shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
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