Ukraine requested to take over Russian Consulate building in Poznań – Ukraine's foreign minister

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has said that Ukraine would like to take over the building of the Russian Consulate General in Poznań and has already sent a request to Poland.

According to Ukrinform, Sybiha said that Ukraine is interested in using the premises of the Russian Consulate General in Poznań, which is being vacated due to the Polish government’s decision to close it.

"I am grateful to my Polish counterpart for this offer. We have sent an official note with this request to the Polish side and are awaiting the details," he said.

Sybiha added that a lot of Ukrainian citizens are in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, so the Ukrainian government is considering Poznań as a possible site for expanding its consular presence in Poland.

On 17 November, it was reported that Russian officials will depart the Poznań consulate in the next few days, and the Polish government will agree to Kyiv’s proposal to open a Ukrainian consulate in the same location.

Earlier, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the closure of one of Russia’s three consulates in Poland – in Poznań – in response to Russian acts of sabotage.

Commenting on this decision, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow would respond to this step.

The majority of Poles feel that Poland should expel the Russian ambassador, according to a United Surveys poll.