Russia's embassy in Australia is threatening legal action after its lease in Canberra was terminated. 

The National Capital Authority (NCA) recently terminated the lease on a plot of land in Canberra’s diplomatic precinct where Russia was building a new embassy, after the foreign government took too long.

The Russian structures on the block will be cleared and the land will be returned to the pool of available land for diplomatic missions.

NCA chief executive Sally Barnes says the uncompleted embassy was detracting from the diplomatic precinct’s aesthetic. 

“With limited blocks currently available for diplomatic purposes, unless a country can demonstrate a willingness and ability to develop the site, the NCA supports a policy of ‘Use it or lose it’,” Ms Barnes said.

The embassy was given 20 days to vacate, and the current Russian embassy in Griffith has not been affected. 

But a Russian embassy spokesperson has described the NCA’s decision as an “unprecedented and highly unwelcome” move. 

The foreign office says it is seeking legal advice over the matter.

“The building project had indeed encountered multiple problems and delays through several years. At all times these were a matter of constructive and frank consultations between the embassy and the NCA,” an embassy spokesperson told reporters.

“It is really puzzling why the NCA chose to terminate the lease now that the construction process at Yarralumla site has been steadily going on uninterrupted for the last two-plus years with results already very much visible and prospects rather clear.”