Only two Russian embassies to function in Germany

Germany’s tit-for-tat response

(Credit : India Posts English)

Berlin (Germany) – The German Government said Wednesday that it has told Russia to close four out of its five consulates general in Germany in a tit-for-tat move after Moscow set a limit for the number of staff at the German Embassy and related bodies in Russia.

The Russian Government had recently said an upper limit of 350 German Government officials, including those working in cultural bodies and schools, could remain in Russia. Burger said this meant Germany would have to shut its consulates in Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Kaliningrad by November. Only the embassy in Moscow and the consulate in St Petersburg would remain open, he added.

(Credit : DW News)

German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christofer Burger said Germany’s counterstroke move was regrettable but added the war meant there was “simply no basis” for numerous bilateral activities between the two countries anymore. “But it is the behaviour of the Russian side that has brought us into this situation.”