The United
States has ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco as well as
two annexes in Washington and New York in response to the Kremlin's recent
drastic
reduction of US diplomatic staff in their country.
The State
Department said the decision was made “in the spirit of parity,” adding that
the closures needed to be completed this weekend.
Along with
the San Francisco consulate, the installations ordered closed were a chancery
annex in Washington, where Moscow has a giant embassy complex, and a consular
annex in New York.
US State
Department spokeswoman, Heather Nauert in a statement says, 'the United States
has fully implemented the decision by the government of the Russian Federation
to reduce the size of our mission in Russia, We believe this action was
unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries,”
she added, noting that, with the closures ordered, “both countries will remain
with three consulates each'.
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