Poland to shut down last Russian consulate
Poland will close the last remaining Russian consulate in the country, in the city of Gdansk, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has announced. The move came after several acts of railway sabotage in Poland, which local authorities were quick to blame on Russia.
Sikorski announced the decision in an address to the Polish parliament on Wednesday, according to the Foreign Ministry. He added that Poland does not intend to sever diplomatic ties with Russia.
Responding to the closure, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would mirror the step, reducing “Poland’s diplomatic-consular presence in Russia.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “relations with Poland have completely deteriorated.” He said Warsaw’s apparent intention to “reduce to zero any possibility of consular or diplomatic relations” with Moscow underscores the state of bilateral ties. Peskov added that Poland’s latest decision “has nothing to do with common sense.”
Poland currently maintains an embassy with a consular section in Moscow and a consulate in Irkutsk in Siberia.
The decision follows two railway sabotage incidents on Sunday and Monday targeting lines used to transport Western military aid to Ukraine. In at least one of the cases, a military-grade C4 explosive was used, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. Authorities later identified two Ukrainians as suspects, alleging both worked for Russian intelligence and fled to Belarus after the attacks. Peskov denied any Russian role in the incidents.
In May, Poland closed the Russian consulate in Krakow, citing Moscow’s alleged involvement in a May 2024 fire at a Warsaw mall.
Russia responded in July by ordering the closure of Poland’s consulate in Kaliningrad.
Last October, Warsaw shut the Russian consulate in Poznan, followed by Moscow’s closure of the Polish Consulate General in St. Petersburg in December.
