That development came amid unresolved US-Russian tensions, and tit-for-tat expulsions that earlier led Moscow to limit the number of US diplomatic staff in Russia.
American diplomats, she wrote on the Telegram platform, had long been "destroying" the consular services system in Russia, turning what should be a routine, technical procedure "into a real hell.""The Russian government's decision to prohibit the United States from retaining, hiring or contracting Russian or third-country staff severely impacts our ability to provide consular services," a State Department spokesman said in a statement received by AFP.
It added: "We realize this is a significant change for visa applicants," and it cautioned them not to travel to Warsaw before booking an appointment with the embassy there. It added: "We considered a number of factors including proximity, availability of flights, convenience for applicants... the prevalence of Russian speakers among our locally engaged personnel, and the availability of staff.
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