In March 2020, the U.S. Consulate General Vladivostok suspended operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When my team and I departed, it was our sole wish to return to Vladivostok as soon as practical, to continue the work of providing services to U.S. and Russian citizens in Russia’s Far East and to strengthen the people-to-people ties – in business, education, culture, sports, and social life – between our two countries.
While it gives me great joy to see signs of progress in the fight against COVID-19 both in Russia and the United States, I regret to report that the U.S. Consulate General Vladivostok will not resume its operations in the near term due to critically low staffing of the United States Mission to Russia.
We value our relationship with the people and regions of the Far East – our neighbors across the icy seas of the Bering Strait. When staffing levels permit, the U.S. Mission to Russia will be pleased to resume work at the U.S. Consulate General Vladivostok.
As of April 1, U.S. citizens in the Russian Far East can receive services from the U.S. Consular Agency in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, as well as from the U.S. Embassy’s consular section in Moscow. Visa services will be provided solely by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow; however, due to insufficient staffing, those services are limited. I would encourage Americans and Russians to regularly check the website of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for more information on the availability of consular services.
As I depart Russia, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who offered me such a warm welcome and who worked together with me and with my team to strengthen U.S.-Russia relations in Russia’s Far East.
The flag of the United States has been raised three times and lowered three times at U.S. diplomatic facilities in Vladivostok. I look forward to the day that we shall all see it raised a fourth time.
