Moscow has Closed 22 Embassies and Consulates in Western Countries since 2022 but Opened Nine Embassies and Seven Consulates in Africa and Asia

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Feb. 11 – Since Putin launched his expanded war in Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has closed 22 embassies and consulates in Western countries at the demand of the governments of those countries and then in most cases shuttering Western diplomatic representations in the Russian Federation in response.

            But over the same period, the Russian foreign ministry says, Moscow has opened nine embassies and seven consulates in Africa and Asia. It has inaugurated embassies in Niger, Sierra Leone and South Sudan over the last 12 months and is slated to open such missions in the Gambia, Liberia, Togo and the Comoros Islands in the next (iz.ru/en/node/2040463).

            This turn to the east in diplomatic work means that in the West, Russian citizens often face difficulties in getting needed consular services and the Russian government is unable to use these missions for a variety of purposes while elsewhere, Moscow is gearing up both for more Russians needing consular assistance and for its embassies to ramp up Russian activities.