Moscow has taken the daring move of closing Poland’s consulate in the western Russian city of Smolensk.
The decision, likely to have diplomatic repercussions, was announced as the Polish ambassador to Russia was summoned by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday.
Poland was accused of “anti-Russian actions” in a statement issued by the Russian Government.
It read: “Unfriendly actions of Poland’s government that are anti-Russian by nature, have led to steps towards the illegal seizure of Russian diplomatic estate in the Polish territory.
“The Russian diplomatic presence in Poland has been considerably cut.”
Russian state news agency TASS claimed the Kremlin also told Polish ambassador Krzysztof Kraevsky that in 2011 Russia had demonstrated a sincere readiness to meet the requests of Warsaw and “as a gesture of goodwill, ensured the opening of the aforementioned consular agency in the region in which memorial objects significant for the Polish side are located”.
The diplomatic department cited by TASS added: “At the same time, Russia agreed to change the parity in favour of Poland in terms of the number of consular offices of the two countries.”
The closure was sanctioned by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the news agency also wrote.
Poland was swift in its reaction, with the country’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki saying Warsaw respond “in kind”.
Mr Morawiecki said: “We regularly receive information about aggressive diplomatic actions from Russia. If in the end it comes to it that Russia starts to liquidate our offices we will respond in kind.”
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Poland has been one of the fiercest allies of Ukraine since the invasion launched by Russia in February 2022.
Alongside his Lithuanian counterpart, Polish President Andrzej Duda was the first to call for international sanctions to be issued against Moscow in early 2022.
Warsaw has since become one of the main destinations for Ukrainian refugees escaping their war-torn homeland.
Moreover, Poland is one of the largest donors of military aid to Ukraine, having provided between January 24, 2022 and May 31, 2023 approximately $3.26billion worth of supplies.
