The Russian Consulate's in the United States continue to lose diplomats as the U.S., Russian relations continue to deteriorate. General Alexander Zakhoarov recently said that unless the situation improves with respect to the United States' issuing Russian Visas, The Russian Consulate General in Houston, Texas will be forced to operate with only two diplomats by the end of 2021. This is less than a quarter of the required number of people.
If the Russian Consulate in Houston only had two diplomats remaining, it would significantly impact response time. The general would be forced to to reduce the number of citizens the Consulate can receive and process as these two people would have to cover 13 U.S. states in the south and Midwest.
Moscow hopes that the upcoming round of US and Russia talks will yield positive outcomes and will change the course of the current situation. "I would like to hope that the planned next round of consultations on bilateral issues will nevertheless lead to positive changes, and it will be possible to find mutually acceptable solutions," Zakharov stated. He was asked if there had been any improvements since the Geneva summit, Zakharov said, "Unfortunately, at this stage, no."