MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. Moscow has notified Warsaw of closing the Polish consulate general in St. Petersburg as a retaliatory measure, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website.

"On December 5, the Russian Foreign Ministry handed a note to the Polish side, saying that in retaliation for the closure of the Russian consulate general in Poznan by the country’s government on November 30, the Russian side is withdrawing its consent for the operation of the Polish consulate general in St. Petersburg from January 10, 2025," the statement said.

In addition, three diplomats serving at the Polish consulate general have been declared personae non gratae and must leave Russia. "Russia informed the Polish side that any hostile actions towards Moscow will continue to be met with harsh retaliatory measures," the diplomatic department added.

The Foreign Ministry emphasized that "the Polish authorities have been pursuing an overtly hostile policy towards Russia in recent years, have nearly dismantled the architecture of Russian-Polish relations built over many decades, and openly declare the need to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on our country." "The closure of the Russian consulate general in Poznan under a far-fetched pretext was one of the manifestations of this anti-Russian course," the ministry noted. "Moscow has informed the Polish side that any unfriendly actions towards Russia will continue to be met with tough retaliatory measures," the ministry concluded.