The United States will close three Russian diplomatic facilities in retaliation for the Kremlin’s expulsion of American diplomats, the State Department announced Thursday.
Citing “the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that Russia would be required to close its consulate in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, and a consular annex in New York City. Russia’s mandate expelling 755 embassy and consulate staff, made in the wake of new Russia sanctions President Trump signed last month, goes into effect Friday.
“The United States has fully implemented the decision by the Government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia,” Nauert said. “We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries.”
In the wake of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, a charge the Kremlin denies, Russia and the United States have taken turns escalating diplomatic friction between the two countries. And with each move, each government insists they are only evening the score.
The same was true today, with Nauert noting they would allow Russia to maintain some annexes “in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship.” Meanwhile, Russia’s foreign minister released a statement in which he“expressed his regret over the escalation of tensions in bilateral relations, which were not started by us.”
