The reason was Russia’s ban on hiring staff for the diplomatic mission, due to which consular services will be unable to process visa applications…

  The U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia will cease providing consular services to Russians starting in August, including the suspension of visa issuance. This was announced by U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan.
“After August 1, we will have very few people working here, and because of that, we won’t be able to provide consular services, which, as I know, are in high demand by both Americans and Russians,” said Sullivan.

  He added that due to the reduction in staff, the consular services “are unable to process even a minimal number of visa applications.”

  The U.S. Ambassador added that next week he will discuss the issues affecting the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.

  “In my view, the most significant issue is the decree signed by the Russian government under which the U.S., and as I understand it, the Czech Republic, were included on the list of unfriendly countries, resulting in the U.S. losing the ability to hire Russian citizens or third-country nationals for our diplomatic missions,” Sullivan clarified.

  As Sullivan added, these circumstances will impact the operations of diplomatic missions in Russia.

  Recall that on April 16, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order introducing new sanctions against Russia, which included the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats from Washington.
In response, Russia expelled 10 American diplomats. Russia also imposed a series of restrictive measures against the U.S., including a ban on hiring administrative and technical staff for U.S. diplomatic missions from among Russian citizens and citizens of third countries.