Russia closes Baltic consulates, expels employees

Russia has ordered the closure of the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian consulates and asked their employees to leave in a retaliatory move, Moscow's foreign ministry said on Thursday.

In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry said it was closing the Latvian consulates in St Petersburg and Pskov, the Estonian consulate in St Petersburg and its office in Pskov, and the Lithuanian consulate in St Petersburg.

Earlier in April, Latvia and Estonia each ordered the closure of two Russian consulates over Russia's actions in Ukraine, while Lithuania told the Russian ambassador to leave.