Russia told to close diplomatic offices ‘in the interests of parity’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday ordered Russia to close three diplomatic facilities in the United States as the spat between Washington and Moscow continues to escalate.

According to State Department representative Heather Nauert, the US required Russia to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, and annexes in Washington and New York by Saturday.

Nauert said the State Department had complied with Russia’s demand to reduce the size of the US diplomatic mission in Russia and now made its own demand “in the interests of parity, as invoked by the Russians”.

“With this action both countries will remain with three consulates each,” said Nauert.

She also noted the US was allowing Russia to maintain additional annexes “in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship.”

The Russian Consulate in San Francisco said in an online statement the decision to close its office was “another unfriendly step of the US authorities”.

On a conference call with reporters on Thursday, a senior Trump administration official said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, of the US decisions during a phone call earlier in the day.

Tillerson and Lavrov also agreed to a meeting later this month, according to the official.

Both Nauert and the official having the conference call with reporters stressed that the US was responding to the Russian “desire for parity” in the diplomatic relationship.

“And it is our hope that the Russians will recognize that since they were the ones who started the discussion on parity and that we’re responding and complying with what they required of us,” said the official.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday dismissed the US claim that the escalation was initiated by Russia, saying Moscow will now “carefully study” the new measures.

The American response came after Russian President Vladimir Putin in July ordered the US to reduce the number of diplomatic personnel in Russia by 755, in response to US sanctions on Russia over its alleged intervention in last year’s US presidential election.

The diplomatic row also came at a low point of bilateral relationship between Washington and Moscow, as the two sides hold differences on a range of issues, including the war in Syria and the conflict in Ukraine.

Putin’s move was seen in some quarters as a delayed response to former president Barack Obama’s expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and seizure of two Russian diplomatic facilities in early 2016.