Polish MPs call for moving Russian embassy

The Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, has adopted a resolution calling for the Russian embassy in Warsaw to be relocated further away from the seat of the Defense Ministry, citing security concerns.

The resolution passed on Friday was supported by 439 lawmakers, with one abstaining. It cites the “urgent need to secure the area around the Ministry of National Defense.”

The document is not legally binding but carries symbolic weight.

The compound housing the Russian diplomatic mission in Warsaw is located right beside the Polish Defense Ministry headquarters and is also in close proximity to Belweder Palace, one of the residences of the Polish president, as well as the prime minister’s office.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announced in an address to parliament that Poland would close the last remaining Russian consulate in the country, in the city of Gdansk.

Responding to Warsaw’s decision, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow would mirror the step, reducing “Poland’s diplomatic-consular presence in Russia.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “relations with Poland have completely deteriorated.” He said Warsaw’s apparent intention to “reduce to zero any possibility of consular or diplomatic relations” with Moscow underscores the state of bilateral ties.

Poland currently has an embassy with a consular section in Moscow and a consulate in Irkutsk in Siberia.

In May, Poland closed the Russian consulate in Krakow, citing Moscow’s alleged involvement in a May 2024 fire at a Warsaw mall.

Russia responded in July by ordering the closure of Poland’s consulate in Kaliningrad.

Last October, Warsaw shut the Russian consulate in Poznan, followed by Moscow’s closure of the Polish mission in St. Petersburg in December.

The Sejm resolution came on the heels of two railway sabotage incidents on Sunday and Monday targeting lines used to transport Western military aid through Poland to Ukraine. The local authorities later identified two Ukrainians as suspects, alleging both worked for Russian intelligence and fled to Belarus after the attacks.

The Kremlin denied any Russian role in the incidents.