Moscow vows to respond as Germany announces shutdown of Russian consulate

Moscow vows to respond as Germany announces shutdown of Russian consulate Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev strongly rejected Berlin’s allegations of Moscow’s involvement in the incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport as unfounded and absurd© ColorMaker/ Shuttestock/ FOTODOMMOSCOW, September 2. /TASS/. The German government has decided to shut down Russia’s consulate general in Bonn from September 18 over an early August drone incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said. Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev strongly rejected Berlin’s allegations of Moscow’s involvement in the incident as unfounded and absurd. TASS has gathered the key details of the situation so far. Russian embassy’s comment - Staff of the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin, along with their family members, are to leave Germany as part of measures taken by the country’s authorities following a drone incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport, the Russian embassy said in a comment. - According to the diplomatic mission, "the German authorities blamed Russia for preparing an act of sabotage without providing any evidence or arguments." - The embassy specified that Berlin had decided to shut down the Russian consulate in Bonn by September 18, 2026, and end the 2011 German-Russian intergovernmental agreement on cultural and information centers, effectively paving the way for the closure of the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin. - Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev strongly rejected Berlin’s accusations of Moscow's involvement in the drone incident as groundless and absurd. - He stressed that the hastily contrived act of provocation only served the interests of the Kiev regime, warmongers within the European political class and military industrialists interested in fomenting the Ukraine conflict. - Nechayev pointed out that the measures announced by Germany amounted to an unprecedented escalation of tensions that would not remain without consequences. Russian president’s statements Germany’s new anti-Russian decisions, announced citing the drone incident at Leipzig Airport, are another "gross error" that harms the interests of the country’s own people, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. - In his view, the decisions result from Germany’s domestic political situation, particularly the difficulties facing Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Russian Foreign Ministry’s reaction - Russia will respond to Germany’s move to shut down the Bonn consulate "as it sees fit," and the process will not take long, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said. - He noted that Germany had chosen a path of escalation "that excludes nothing on the diplomatic track." - Germany’s actions are set to literally erode all positive aspects of bilateral relations that took decades to build, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. - Germany opted to escalate tensions with Russia under a completely far-fetched pretext as Berlin has no evidence to support its accusations against Moscow, Zakharova pointed out. - She emphasized that Germany would receive an appropriate response to its decision to close the Russian House in Berlin and the Russian consulate general in Bonn. Reaction in Russia - Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev described the leaders of European countries as sponsors of the Kiev regime’s terrorism amid allegations of Moscow’s involvement in the attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport. - The closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn and the expulsion of Russian diplomats "will only speed up the decay of Russia-Germany relations," Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma (lower house of parliament) Committee on International Affairs and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, told TASS. - Igor Chaika, head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Russia's government agency for international cultural cooperation and public diplomacy, said he would not be surprised if the Moscow branch of Germany’s Goethe-Institut cultural organization were closed in a tit-for-tat response. Drone incident - A drone loaded with an explosive device was discovered on the tarmac at Leipzig/Halle Airport near a Ukrainian Antonov transport aircraft on the evening of August 4. - The same night, another drone crashed into a DHL cargo plane. - Ten days later, investigators found a third drone, along with traces of a powerful explosive, presumably about 50 grams of hexogen. - German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described the incident as "a scenario for a hybrid attack," saying that it could have been orchestrated by "foreign powers." - On September 2, Germany will raise the incident for discussion at a NATO Council meeting, the Bild newspaper reported, citing government sources. 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