Moscow laments Germany's "ill-considered" move to close Russian consulates

Berlin has closed four of the five Russian consulates in Germany as bilateral relations between the two countries hit a new low due to the Ukraine war. Moscow described the decision as an "ill-considered" step and announced a reaction.

On Wednesday, Germany's Foreign Ministry announced that it had decided to drastically reduce Russia's diplomatic presence in the country and called on the Kremlin to close four of the five currently active Russian consulates in the country by November.

The decision was "notified to the Russian foreign ministry today," German foreign ministry spokesman Christofer Burger said at a news conference, adding that the move came after Moscow capped the number of German government employees allowed in Russia to 350.

"Therefore, we have decided to revoke the operating license of four of the five (Russian) consulates general operating in Germany," he said, stressing that "the Russian government has taken a step aimed at escalating tensions."

"This unjustified decision forces the government to make significant cuts in all areas of its presence in Russia," Burger added. russia criticizes "provocative actions"Russia criticized Germany's decision to reduce Russia's diplomatic presence on its soil and promised an appropriate response to Berlin's "ill-conceived" provocation.

"There should be no doubt in Berlin that these ill-conceived provocative actions will not remain without our appropriate response," Russia's foreign ministry said.Relations between Germany and Russia have been very tense for months because of Berlin's military support for Ukraine.Russia's order to reduce the German presence on its territory means hundreds of officials and local staff working for German institutions in the Russian Federation have to leave the country.

According to Burger, Moscow's decision includes the closure of the German consulates in Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk, with operations to be significantly restricted and stopped by November.

However, the German embassy in the capital Moscow and the consulate in Saint Petersburg are not affected."For the Russian presence in Germany, our decisions apply reciprocally... to ensure a balance between the two sides, both in terms of personnel and structure," Burger continued.The Kremlin described Berlin's move as "ill thought out" and announced a reaction.

"There should be no doubt in Berlin that these ill-conceived provocative actions will not remain without our appropriate response," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, without giving further details.As early as April, Berlin expelled several Russian diplomats "to reduce the presence of secret services," leading to a retaliatory reaction from Moscow, which expelled about 20 employees of the German embassy.In early May, Berlin announced plans to ship a huge €2.7 billion arms package to Ukraine to further fuel the US-led war effort against Russia.

Berlin's armaments package for Kiev includes 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 30 Leopard1 tanks, 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, 200 reconnaissance drones, four additional Iris-T anti-aircraft systems including ammunition, additional artillery ammunition and more than 200 armored battle tanks and logistics vehicles.