The State Department has temporarily halted visa operations in Russia as a response to Moscow’s order to cut staffing levels at the U.S. mission, the most recent jab in an ongoing diplomatic spat between the two governments.
In a fact sheet released Monday morning, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said it will suspend all nonimmigrant visa interviews across Russia beginning Wednesday. Operations will resume Sept. 1 on a “greatly reduced scale,” but interviews will be conducted only at the embassy and not at consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok.
Visa interviews at the consulates are suspended “until further notice,” according to the fact sheet.
Embassy officials say the eight-day suspension of visa operations is a result of the Russian government’s personnel cap imposed on the U.S. mission. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the U.S. to cut its diplomatic staff by 755 people after Congress imposed sanctions on Russia as punishment for election meddling and foreign military interventions.
Staff reductions have already begun, according to U.S. embassy officials. The majority of U.S mission employees are Russian nationals, so it remains unclear how many American staffers will ultimately leave the country.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Russia will “study” the embassy’s announcement for a potential response but likely will not “take it out on U.S. citizens,” according to the Associated Press.
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