Trump administration plans to close both US consulates in Russia, CNN says, as President-elect Joe Biden prepares for transition amid tensions with Moscow suspected of being behind cyberattack .
• Read also: Cyberattack: Washington blames Russia
The State Department will close the consulate in Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East, and suspend the activities of the one in Yekaterinburg, the channel reported on Friday, citing a letter sent by the State Department to Congress on December 10.
This decision was taken “in response to the ongoing personnel problems of the US mission in Russia following the ceiling imposed by Russia in 2017 on the US mission and the resulting stalemate with Russia over diplomatic visas” , CNN said.
Ten American diplomats assigned to consulates will be transferred to the American embassy in Moscow while 33 local employees will lose their jobs, according to the channel.
“No action is planned concerning the Russian consulates in the United States”, according to this letter quoted by CNN.
The embassy in Moscow will then remain the sole diplomatic representation of the United States in Russia.
Russia closed the United States consulate in St. Petersburg in March 2018, after identical measures taken by Washington in connection with the case of the poisoned ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom.
The United States on Friday accused Russia of being most likely behind the massive cyberattack that hit them. The operation could, according to security experts, allow attackers to gain access to critical computer systems and power grids.
Joe Biden’s transition team general manager Yohannes Abraham said the attack was a source of “great concern”, and that under the Biden administration, cyber attacks would meet with a backlash inflicting “substantial cost.”
Russia has denied being involved in the cyberattack.