Poland to close last Russian consulate, sets deadline

Warsaw orders the Gdańsk consulate to cease operations by midnight on December 23, with staff required to leave the country within the set timeframe.

The decision follows Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski’s order revoking consent for the consulate’s further activities, with the corresponding note officially handed to the Russian side, Caliber.Az reports, citing RMF24.

After the closure, only the Russian embassy in Warsaw will remain in Poland, marking a sharp deterioration in bilateral relations.

The Polish side has not announced any additional measures yet.

Earlier, FM Radosław Sikorski announced that the move was a response to “Russia’s acts of sabotage,” which he said have not ceased but are escalating.

Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has positioned itself as one of Kyiv’s strongest supporters within NATO and the EU, a stance that has heightened Moscow’s sensitivity to Warsaw’s actions.

The closure in Gdańsk follows a series of diplomatic escalations: in October 2024, Poland closed the Russian consulate in Poznań over suspected sabotage linked to Russia. In retaliation, Moscow shut Poland’s consulate in St Petersburg and declared several Polish diplomats “personae non gratae.”

In May 2025, Poland ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Kraków after authorities linked a major arson attack at a Warsaw shopping complex to Russian intelligence operations.

By Jeyhun Aghazada