U.S. Opens Embassies in 4 Ex-Soviet States
American diplomats ran up U.S. flags Monday at opening ceremonies for new embassies in four former Soviet republics.
The embassies in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan brought to six the number of U.S. embassies in the 11-member Commonwealth of Independent States. The United States already had embassies in Russia and Ukraine.
The Americans also have embassies in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the Baltic republics that left the Soviet Union last fall before it dissolved.
Renee Earle, a U.S. spokeswoman in Moscow, said none of the four embassies opened Monday is in permanent quarters. Ambassadors also have not been named for the posts, being run for now by small advance teams of diplomats.
“They are all mostly working out of hotels,” Earle said. “They are looking for property to use as permanent embassies.”
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