The Russian Consulate General in New York was finally able to open an account in an American bank after blocking

Citibank opened an account for the Russian Consulate General in New York, whose funds had previously been blocked by Bank of America. This was announced by Acting Consul General Vyacheslav Slavkin, writes RBC.

“We opened an account this week, we were sent consent from Citibank to open an account,” he said.

According to Slavkin, employees expect to be able to fully function using online accounts this week. The Consul General said that the ambassador checked the operation of the account and at the moment they are restoring the acceptance of checks. At the same time, the website of the consulate still states that you can pay for services only in cash, checks and money orders are not accepted.

At the same time, the Consulate General in Houston, which Bank of America also blocked an account in April, has not yet resumed banking services, said the head of the diplomatic mission, Alexander Zakharov.

“A new account has not been opened yet. But we hope that this will happen soon,” he said.

At the end of April, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov notified that Bank of America had closed the accounts of the Russian consulates general in New York and Houston. He said that the Americans maintain contact with Russian diplomats only at the working level.

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It is difficult for the Russian side to fulfill any instructions from Moscow, even when it is necessary to convey some kind of message. Antonov noted that he could call Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, but not the fact that she would want to answer.

Later, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated that the blocking of the accounts of the consulates general did not occur without “a direct order from the US State Department.” At the same time, according to her, after the closing of the accounts, the State Department promised to help open new ones in another bank, "to avoid trouble for the US diplomatic mission in Moscow."

In March, Antonov said that the United States was heading for the "bleeding" of Russian diplomatic missions abroad.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• One of the largest banks in the US Bank of America closes accounts of Russian consulates general in Houston (Texas) and New York (New York). This was announced by the Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov.