US Consulate General In Russia's Vladivostok May Be Closed By Mid-Spring- Russian Diplomat

The US Consulate General in the Russian Pacific port city of Vladivostok may be closed by mid-spring, Andrey Brovarets, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry in the Primorsky Territory, said on Wednesday

VLADIVOSTOK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2021) The US Consulate General in the Russian Pacific port city of Vladivostok may be closed by mid-spring, Andrey Brovarets, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry in the Primorsky Territory, said on Wednesday.

In December, the US Department of State confirmed to Sputnik that the US Consulate General in Vladivostok would be closed, while the consulate in Yekaterinburg would suspend its activities to optimize the work of the US diplomatic missions and to advance foreign policy interests in Russia. No actions toward the Russian consulates in the United States were said to be planned.

"This is a unilateral decision of the US Department of State, which could be implemented in its final form by mid-spring 2021. Personally, I can only express the hope that the administration of the new US President will revise it, as this decision runs counter to the general objective trends in the development of international cooperation of the Primorsky Territory with foreign partners," Brovarets said.

The diplomat added that more than 50 percent of representatives of the foreign economic missions registered in the Far Eastern Federal District (FEFD) worked in the Primorsky Territory, which has 23 percent of the FEFD's trade.

"There is an expansion of the foreign representatives' network, even despite the coronavirus pandemic," Brovarets noted.

According to the diplomat, Washington's decision may be dictated by certain internal considerations, but it does not discredit the importance of the Primorsky Territory in international relations.