Russia orders German consulate in St Petersburg closed — SkimNews
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- Russia's Foreign Ministry ordered the German consulate in St Petersburg to cease operations by September 18, accusing Germany of provoking "a new round of escalation in bilateral relations."
- Germany shuttered Russia's consulate general in Bonn and the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin last week after accusing Moscow of orchestrating a failed drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport.
- Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced Germany's accusations as marking "the beginning of a real war," compared Berlin's measures to events preceding World War II, and accused Germany of wanting "war again."
- President Vladimir Putin dismissed the drone attack allegations without offering details, claiming the evidence was "planted."
- Russia previously ordered all branches of Germany's Goethe-Institut closed, with staff ordered to leave by Sunday as part of the same retaliatory sequence.
- Germany has allocated more than $50 billion in civilian aid and nearly $67 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia's February 2022 invasion, making it one of Kyiv's strongest European backers.
Why it matters: With Germany providing over $117 billion combined to Ukraine and Russia now framing Berlin's diplomatic measures as warmongering reminiscent of the 1930s, this tit-for-tat closure cycle risks cutting off one of Moscow's last functioning channels of direct diplomatic engagement with a key Ukrainian backer — raising the cost of any future de-escalation.
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