The Russian consulate in New York City is claiming that its phone lines have been cut. Calling the two phone numbers on the consulate’s website results in a beeping tone indicating that the lines are busy or disconnected. 

The Consulate General tweeted: 

Since January 18 this year the American side has completely disconnected all city telephone lines of the Russian Consulate General in New York, periodically there are interruptions in Internet access.”

The consulate is encouraging its visitors to contact the office via email instead. 

Sputnik – the Russian state media agency – said that US authorities are citing technical difficulties as the reason for the dead phone lines. This according to a source at the consulate who said that a two-day delay in getting the phone lines back up and working is “unheard of”. The source told the state media agency that all connected phone lines went down at the same time. 

The Independent attempted to email the consulate but was returned with an error message saying that the server wasn’t available. 

This latest escalation in US-Russia relations comes after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticised the Russian government for arresting opposition politician Aleksey Navalny upon his return to the country. In a statement, Mr Pompeo said: “The United States strongly condemns Russia’s decision to arrest Aleksey Navalny. We note with grave concern that his detention is the latest in a series of attempts to silence Navalny and other opposition figures and independent voices who are critical of Russian authorities.”