Russian Consulate In Houston May Be Left With 2 Diplomats By End Of 2021 - Consul General

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th September, 2021) The Russian Consulate General in Houston, Texas, may be forced to operate with only two diplomats by the end of this year unless the situation with respect to the United States' issuing visas improves, Consul General Alexander Zakharov told Sputnik.

"Frankly, if the situation does not change, then by the end of this year only two diplomats will remain in the Consulate General: your humble servant and the deputy consul-adviser. This is less than a quarter of the required number of people," Zakharov said.

The consul said the two people performing consular activities - signing documents, officially contacting the US authorities, visiting persons under arrest or imprisonment - would have to cover 13 US states in South and Midwest of the United States, where "tens of thousands of our compatriots live."

Zakharov said the Consulate General would also have to reduce the number of citizens it can receive and expects an increase the response time.

"Well, if the situation doesn't change, my deputy and I will have to recall our young years and, with the permission of Moscow, as they say in our professional jargon 'sit at the window' ourselves - receive citizens, draw up powers of attorney, print passports and visas, answer letters, and so on," Zakharov said. "Alas, in this situation we will have no choice but to limit the reception."

Zakharov explained that after the closures of the Russia's Consulates General in San Francisco and Seattle at the request of the US government, the main burden of serving Russian citizens living on United States' West Coast fell on the diplomatic facility in Houston.

"It is simply more convenient and less expensive for our customers to come to us rather than to the more distant missions in Washington or New York. It is not surprising that the number of consular actions we perform has almost doubled in comparison with 2017. At the same time, it is unlikely that it will be possible to handle the same volume of work in the current conditions of underrepresented personnel," he said.

Zakharov pointed out that the list of tasks of the diplomatic mission is not limited only to consulate services but also has a political component that includes the promotion of the entire spectrum of Russia's interests abroad, the development of bilateral economic, cultural, educational and other ties as well as information and explanatory work.

"It is also worth noting that this year - again due to a lack of staff - we were forced to refuse to hold field sessions in those cities that they were counting on us, first of all, Denver, Colorado and Dallas, Texas," he said.

For the same reason, it was not possible to fully carry out all the events planned for the 60th anniversary of the first man's flight into space, Zakharov added.