Consul General of Russia in New York Ovsyannikov: only five people work in the consulate

“We really have four employees (not counting the consul. -

).

Five families left at the end of January.

Exactly four people remained, ”RIA Novosti quotes Ovsyannikov. 

According to him, earlier there were 12 diplomats in the consulate.

He also stressed that "for the first time there is no security officer in the Consulate General, which is a glaring fact."

Earlier, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, during telephone conversations, agreed to activate work to relieve tensions in the work of the diplomatic missions of the two countries.

Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said that 55 employees of Russian diplomatic missions will have to leave the United States in 2022 at the request of the American side.