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US Plans to Close Last 2 Consulates in Russia

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - The Trump administration has notified Congress that it
   intends to shutter the two remaining U.S. consulates in Russia.

   The State Department told lawmakers last week that it would permanently
   close the consulate in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok and
   temporarily suspend operations at the consulate in Yekaterinburg just
   east of the Ural Mountains.

   The notice was sent to Congress on Dec. 10 but received little
   attention at the time. That timing predates by three days the public
   emergence of news about a major suspected Russian computer intrusion
   into U.S. government and private computer systems that has raised grave
   cybersecurity fears.

   The department's notification to Congress, a copy of which was obtained
   by The Associated Press, says the closures are because of caps placed
   by Russian authorities in 2017 on the number of U.S. diplomats allowed
   to work in the country.

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