Washington: The US State Department today ordered Belarus to close its embassy in Washington and its consulate in New York and will shut down the US Embassy in the Belarusian capital in a new escalation of a diplomatic dispute.

Belarus has been given until May 16 to withdraw its six diplomats at the two missions and the American embassy in Minsk will cease operations as early as Friday, officials told the Associated Press. The move is just a step short of severing diplomatic relations and is the latest in a series of tit-for-tat exchanges with the former Soviet republic.

Officials said Belarus was notified of the decision in simultaneous meetings between US and Belarusian diplomats in Washington and Minsk. They spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement of the step expected today.

The United States is one of the fiercest critics of Belarus authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, and relations have deteriorated notably this year amid pressure from Washington for Belarus to release political prisoners or face punitive sanctions. Belarus yesterday ordered most of the US Embassy staff in Minsk to leave the country in 72 hours.

The US ambassador left Minsk in March after Belarus pulled its ambassador from Washington. The US Embassy in Minsk was being forced to cut its staff in half to four and the officials said the mission would not be able to function with such a small number of personnel.

The officials said arrangements were being made with a third country to assume "protecting power" responsibilities for the US interests in Belarus, most notably looking after the care of an ailing American lawyer who is currently in Belarusian custody.

Source : PTI