Russian Foreign Ministry summons Polish Ambassador
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The Russian Foreign Ministry says further work of the Polish Consular Agency in Russia's Smolensk seems futile given Warsaw's hostile policy towards Moscow.
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Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit in Brussels on Oct. 21, 2022. (AP)
The Russian Foreign Ministry called Friday Polish Ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski to inform him of the closing of the Polish Consular Agency in Smolensk, Russia.
Earlier in the day, the Russian government announced the closure of the Consular Agency of Poland in Smolensk.
According to the statement, "On July 14, Polish Ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Krajewski was handed a note with a notification of the closure of the Consular Agency of the Republic of Poland in Smolensk."
Further work of the Polish Consular Agency in Russia's Smolensk seems futile given Warsaw's hostile policy towards Moscow, the ministry explained.
Read more: Poland sends soviet era Mi-24 attack helicopters to Ukraine
The statement also dictated that Krajewski was informed that Warsaw's aggressive policy "which has gone beyond all civilized limits, including provocations against Russian diplomats accredited in Poland, the seizure of Russian diplomatic real estate and the embezzlement of the Russian Embassy's assets, forced Moscow to implement a set of retaliatory measures. Not a single hostile step of the Polish authorities directed against Russia will remain unanswered."
Subsequently, the Polish Foreign Ministry stated that its consular office in Russia's Smolensk would close on August 31, 2023, with the tasks of the post being fulfilled directly by the Polish Embassy in Moscow following its closure.
According to the Polish Foreign Ministry, the Polish Consular Agency in Smolensk was in charge of overseeing the Katyn cemetery, where Polish military officers who were victims of a mass killing in 1940 were buried, as well as the memorial dedicated to the 2010 air disaster, when a Polish air force flight crashed near Smolensk, killing all 96 people on board. The office also assisted Poles who were visiting the region.
The Polish Foreign Ministry expressed that it "reserves the right to take appropriate measures" in response to the closure.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki commented on the issue, saying that Warsaw would have an equal response to the closure of its diplomatic missions in Russia and that the Polish authorities were "in constant contact with diplomats working in Russia to help Poles who live there."
Since the war in Ukraine began, Poland has been one of many European countries to expel Russian diplomats.
Moscow subsequently removed scores of diplomatic mission staff, including Polish envoys.
Two weeks ago, in response to the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced that Poland wanted to host US nuclear weapons.
A move former Russian President and deputy security council chief Dmitry Medvedev said might lead to a nuclear war.
