Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The closure of the San Francisco consulate leaves just three remaining in the US, a senior administration official says

Russia has been ordered to close its San Francisco consulate and two trade missions in response to "unwarranted" Russian action, the US has said.

The consulate, and annexes in New York and Washington, must close by Saturday.

The US state department's move follows Moscow's reduction of US diplomatic staff in Russia last month.

That in turn followed new US sanctions on Russia over Crimea and alleged election interference, which led to the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats.

President Barack Obama had ordered those expulsions, along with the closure of two compounds, last December.

Although Russian President Vladimir Putin did not respond initially to that move, with Mr Trump set to assume office, he then announced on 31 July a reduction of 755 US diplomatic staff in Russia, in retaliation for the US sanctions.

Image copyright EPA Image caption The US embassy in Moscow. US staff in Russia have been sizeably reduced

The US diplomats expelled have until this Friday to leave Russia - a day before the US closures of the Russian consulate and two annexes, which are trade missions, must be completed.

A senior administration official said on Thursday that the consulate and the residence attached to it as well as the two trade missions would close but no Russian staff would be required to leave the country.

Russia will be allowed to maintain the properties, but not use them, the official added.

The state department said the US actions were "in the spirit of parity". It blamed Moscow for what it called a downward spiral in bilateral ties, but suggested it wanted an end to the current spat.

"The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased co-operation on areas of mutual concern," state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

The move leaves each country with three consulates in place, Ms Nauert added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Thursday, expressing "regret at the escalation of tensions in bilateral relations".

He said Moscow would study the order and respond accordingly, according to a statement from the Russian foreign ministry.

Mr Lavrov and Mr Tillerson are due to meet in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump said US relations with Russia were at a "dangerous low" amid a row with Congress over the fresh sanctions against Moscow.

The president, who wanted warmer ties with Russia, had opposed the bill, which included a provision that limits his ability to lift sanctions and forces him to consult Congress first.

Mr Trump has been dogged by claims that Russia tried to sway the election in his favour and several investigations are under way to determine whether anyone from his campaign colluded with Moscow.

But the Kremlin has repeatedly denied interfering and Mr Trump has insisted that there was no collusion, calling the investigations a "witch hunt".</s>The United States demanded that Russia shut down its Consulate General in San Francisco and two other diplomatic entities in New York City and Washington, DC by September 2, the US Department of State said in a press release on Thursday.

 “In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, DC, and a consular annex in New York City. These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2,” the release stated.

 The United States has reduced the size of its staff at the US Embassy in Russia by 455 people as instructed by Moscow in July as a response to the 2016 expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and sanctions against Russia passed by the US Congress in July, the State Department said.

 “The United States has fully implemented the decision by the Government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia,” the statement read. “The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted.”

Moscow suspended the use of all warehouses in Moscow by the US embassy starting from August 1 following the US Senate’s approval of a new set of sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea.</s>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Acrid, black smoke was seen pouring from a chimney at the Russian consulate in San Francisco and workers began hauling boxes out of the stately building in a historic area of the city Friday, a day after the Trump administration ordered its closure amid escalating tensions between the United States and Russia.

The workers were hurrying to shut Russia's oldest consulate in the U.S. ahead of a Saturday deadline.

The order to leave the consulate and an official diplomatic residence in San Francisco - home to a longstanding community of Russian emigres and technology workers - escalated an already tense diplomatic standoff between Washington and Moscow, even for those who have long monitored activities inside the closely monitored building.

"There is finally the realization by the administration that Russians have been involved in intelligence operations at this consulate, which they have been doing for decades," said Rick Smith, a veteran FBI special agent who previously headed the bureau's Russian counterintelligence squad in San Francisco. "It's almost 50 years of history and part of a tit-for-tat, but this is more like a hammer."

In a statement posted on Facebook, the Russian consulate said the closure would hurt both Russian and American citizens needing its services. The consulate issued more than 16,000 tourist visas to American citizens last year, it said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claims U.S. "special services" intend to search the consulate Saturday. She says that the U.S. also plans to search apartments in San Francisco used by Russian diplomats and their families. Zakharova said that involves the families leaving their apartments for 10 to 12 hours so officials can search.

The State Department isn't commenting specifically on whether officials plan to search the premises. But the State Department said as of Saturday, access to the consulate will only be granted with State Department permission.

It had no comment on the black smoke coming from the embassy in San Francisco, which triggered a visit from the San Francisco Fire Department.

Firefighters who arrived at the scene were turned away by consulate officials who came from inside the building. An Associated Press reporter heard people who came from inside the building tell firefighters that there was no problem and that consulate staff were burning unidentified items in a fireplace.

Mindy Talmadge, a spokeswoman from the San Francisco Fire Department, said the department received a call about the smoke and sent a crew to investigate but determined the smoke was coming from the chimney.

Talmadge said she did not know what they were burning on a day when normally cool San Francisco temperatures had already climbed to 95 degrees by noon.

"It was not unintentional. They were burning something in their fireplace," she said.

American counterintelligence officials have long kept a watchful eye on Russia's outpost in San Francisco, concerned that people posted to the consulate as diplomats were engaged in espionage.

In addition to Consul Sergey Petrov, the consulate's website showed 13 other Russian officials working at the San Francisco post. When approached Friday, Petrov declined to answer questions about the closure or about what was being burned inside.

Sasha Sobol was among the crowd who went to the consulate Friday morning to renew a Russian passport, but was told the document wasn't ready and turned away by early afternoon.

"It's really too bad because now we are going to have to go to Seattle or Houston," said Sobol, a Sunnyvale resident with joint U.S-Russian citizenship.

Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker contributed to this report.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - The United States is requiring Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and two annexe buildings in Washington, DC and New York City, the State Department said on Thursday (Aug 31), in response to the Kremlin's decision to shrink the US diplomatic mission in Russia.

Last month, Moscow ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people, after Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions against Russia.

"We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Thursday.

"In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annexe in Washington, DC, and a consular annex in New York City," Nauert said.

"These closures will need to be accomplished by Sept 2."</s>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Acrid, black smoke was seen pouring from a chimney at the Russian consulate in San Francisco Friday, a day after the Trump administration ordered its closure amid escalating tensions between the United States and Russia.

Firefighters who arrived at the scene were turned away by consulate officials who came from inside the building.

An Associated Press reporter heard people who came from inside the building tell firefighters that there was no problem and that consulate staff were burning unidentified items in a fireplace.

Mindy Talmadge, a spokeswoman from the San Francisco Fire Department, said the department received a call about the smoke and sent a crew to investigate but determined the smoke was coming from the chimney.

"They had a fire going in their fireplace," she said.

Talmadge said she did not know what they were burning on a day when normally cool San Francisco temperatures had already climbed to 95 degrees by noon.

"It was not unintentional. They were burning something in their fireplace," she said.

The workers are hurrying to shut Russia's oldest consulate in the U.S. ahead of a Saturday deadline.

The order for Russia to vacate the consulate and an official diplomatic residence in San Francisco - home to a longstanding community of Russian emigres and technology workers - escalated an already tense diplomatic standoff between Washington and Moscow.

Friday morning, a handful of people with business at the embassy were allowed into the building. A day earlier, Russian citizens said they were able to pick up and renew their passports if they had pre-existing appointments. Consular officials did not comment as they got into cars with diplomatic plates.

Sasha Sobol was among the crowd who went to the consulate Friday morning to renew a Russian passport, but was told the document wasn't ready and turned away by early afternoon.

"It's really too bad because now we are going to have to go to Seattle or Houston," said Sobol, a joint U.S-Russian citizen who lives in Sunnyvale.

Those without appointments were already being turned away.

The order to leave the consulate and an official diplomatic residence in San Francisco - home to a longstanding community of Russian emigres and technology workers - escalated an already tense diplomatic standoff between Washington and Moscow, even for those who have long monitored activities inside the closely monitored building.

"There is finally the realization by the administration that Russians have been involved in intelligence operations at this consulate, which they have been doing for decades," said Rick Smith, a veteran FBI special agent who previously headed the bureau's Russian counterintelligence squad in San Francisco. "It's almost 50 years of history and part of a tit-for-tat, but this is more like a hammer."

In a statement posted on Facebook, the Russian consulate said the closure would hurt both Russian and American citizens needing its services. The consulate issued more than 16,000 tourist visas to American citizens last year, it said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claims U.S. "special services" intend to search the consulate Saturday. She says that the U.S. also plans to search apartments in San Francisco used by Russian diplomats and their families. Zakharova said that involves the families leaving their apartments for 10 to 12 hours so officials can search.

The State Department isn't commenting specifically on whether officials plan to search the premises. But the State Department said as of Saturday, access to the consulate will only be granted with State Department permission. It had no comment on the black smoke coming from the embassy in San Francisco.

The State Department also ordered Russia to close trade missions housed in satellite offices in Washington and New York. By next week, Russia will have just three consulates in the U.S. - in Washington, D.C., Seattle and Houston - the same number that the U.S. has in Russia, department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

The closures on both U.S. coasts marked perhaps the most drastic diplomatic measure by the United States against Russia since 1986, when the nuclear-armed powers expelled dozens of each other's diplomats.

American counterintelligence officials have long kept a watchful eye on Russia's outpost in San Francisco, concerned that people posted to the consulate as diplomats were engaged in espionage.

Last December, the U.S. kicked out several Russians diplomats in San Francisco in response to allegations that Russia interfered in the presidential election. This time, the State Department did not expel any of the consulate's staff from the United States. In addition to Consul Sergey Petrov, the consulate's website showed 13 other Russian officials working at the San Francisco post.

Russia has a long history in the San Francisco Bay Area, where there are three Russian cathedrals marking the different facets of the Orthodox church.

The Bay Area has more than 75,000 Russian-speaking residents, with as many as 300,000 Russian speakers in the greater Sacramento, California, area about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco.

Shops that cater to the city's large community of Russian emigres line the streets near the consulate. It sits a few blocks from the Presidio, which used to be a U.S. military fort and the headquarters of the Sixth U.S. Army before it was inactivated.

Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker contributed to this report.</s>Acrid, black smoke was seen pouring from a chimney at the Russian consulate in San Francisco Friday, a day after the Trump administration ordered its closure amid escalating tensions between the United States and Russia.

Firefighters who arrived at the scene were turned away by consulate officials who came from inside the building.

An Associated Press reporter heard people who came from inside the building tell firefighters that there was no problem and that consulate staff were burning unidentified items in a fireplace.

Mindy Talamadge, a spokeswoman from the San Francisco Fire Department, said the department received a call about the smoke and sent a crew to investigate but determined the smoke was coming from the chimney.

"They had a fire going in their fireplace," she said.

Talmadge said she did not know what they were burning on a day when normally cool San Francisco temperatures had already climbed to 95 degrees by noon.

"It was not unintentional. They were burning something in their fireplace," she said.

The consulate's workers are hurrying to shut Russia's oldest consulate in the U.S. ahead of a Saturday deadline.

The order for Russia to vacate the consulate and an official diplomatic residence in San Francisco — home to a longstanding community of Russian emigres and technology workers — escalated an already tense diplomatic standoff between Washington and Moscow.

Friday morning, a handful of people with business at the embassy were allowed into the building. A day earlier, Russian citizens said they were able to pick up and renew their passports if they had pre-existing appointments. Consular officials did not comment as they got into cars with diplomatic plates.

Those without appointments were already being turned away.

Yuri Alexandrovski, a U.S.-Russian dual citizen who works in the tech industry, said he had hoped to renew his passport to go to the World Cup next year in Russia, but was not allowed because he did not have an appointment.

"It seemed like I was asking questions they didn't have answers for," said Alexandrovski. "I'm assuming I will have to fly to Seattle to get that done."

The State Department also ordered Russia to close trade missions housed in satellite offices in Washington and New York. By next week, Russia will have just three consulates in the U.S. — in Washington, D.C., Seattle and Houston — the same number that the U.S. has in Russia, department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

The closures on both U.S. coasts marked perhaps the most drastic diplomatic measure by the United States against Russia since 1986, when the nuclear-armed powers expelled dozens of each other's diplomats.

American counterintelligence officials have long kept a watchful eye on Russia's outpost in San Francisco, concerned that people posted to the consulate as diplomats were engaged in espionage.

Neighbors said they often wondered what type of equipment was housed in sheds on the roof of the consulate, which has a clear line of sight to maritime movement throughout the bay.

Last December, the U.S. kicked out several Russians diplomats in San Francisco in response to allegations that Russia interfered in the presidential election. This time, the State Department did not expel any of the consulate's staff from the United States. In addition to Consul Sergey Petrov, the consulate's website showed 13 other Russian officials working at the San Francisco post.

Russia has a long history in the San Francisco Bay Area, where there are three Russian cathedrals marking the different facets of the Orthodox church.

The Bay Area has more than 75,000 Russian-speaking residents, with as many as 300,000 Russian speakers in the greater Sacramento, California, area about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco.

Shops that cater to the city's large community of Russian emigres line the streets near the consulate. It sits a few blocks from the Presidio, which used to be a U.S. military fort and the headquarters of the Sixth U.S. Army before it was inactivated.

Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker contributed to this report.</s>WASHINGTON - The United States on Thursday ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco as well as two annexes in Washington and New York in two days, in a tit-for-tat response to Moscow’s 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 by Saturday.

At the start of Donald Trump’s presidency in January, the Republican leader said he hoped for improved relations with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

But after the US Congress approved new economic sanctions against Moscow over its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, Putin in July ordered drastic cuts in US staff in retaliation.

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.

“The United States has fully implemented the decision by the government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. “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.”

Putin said 755 diplomatic staff - both Russian and American - would have to stop work by Friday, although the US State Department has not confirmed the number. The number of US diplomatic staff will now be capped at 455, the same number that Russia has in the United States.

It is not clear how many of the US-employed staff losing their jobs will be physically leaving the country, or how many are Russian citizens. The RBK news site cited sources saying that at least 600 are Russian. “We have waited long enough, hoping that the situation would perhaps change for the better,” Putin said when he announced the cuts. “But it seems that even if the situation is changing, it’s not for any time soon.”

On Thursday, Washington expressed hope that the two sides “can avoid further retaliatory actions... and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries.” But the State Department warned: “The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted.”

Washington had already announced it would suspend issuing all non-immigrant visas in Russia between August 23 and September 1.

Visa operations at US consulates will remain suspended indefinitely.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday expressed “regret at the escalation of tensions” after the United States told Moscow to shut its consulate in San Francisco.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Lavrov as Washington announced it was ordering Moscow to shut the consulate, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

“In response the minister expressed regret at the escalation of tensions in bilateral relations,” it said.

“Moscow will examin the new measures announced by the Americans in detail after which our reaction will be announced.”

The US State Department ordered Moscow to close the consulate and two annexes in Washington and New York in two days, saying the decision was made “in the spirit of parity” following a Moscow-imposed cap on the US diplomatic presence in Russia.

“The Consulate General will act in accordance with the decision that will be taken by the Russian leadership regarding this decision by the Americans,” the consul in San Francisco Sergei Petrov told RIA-Novosti news agency.

“Right now the foreign ministry will decide on the procedure of the shut down, where people will go, and so forth,” he said.

Russia has had a diplomatic presence in San Francisco since 1852, according to the consulate’s website. It closed in 1924 because of a lack of funds but reopened in 1934 after Washintgon established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.</s>The United States has told Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and buildings in Washington and New York that house trade missions, the State Department said on Thursday, in retaliation for Moscow cutting the U.S. diplomatic presence in Russia.

The announcement was the latest in tit-for-tat measures between the two countries that have helped to drive relations to a new post-Cold War low, thwarting hopes on both sides that they might improve after U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.

Last month, Moscow ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people to match the number of Russian diplomats in the United States, after Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions against Russia. The sanctions were imposed in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and to punish Russia further for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

"We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the United States had completed the reduction.

"In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians," Nauert said, the United States has required the Russian government to close its San Francisco consulate and two annexes in Washington, D.C. and New York by Sept. 2.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of the closures in a phone call on Thursday, a senior Trump administration official said. The two men plan to meet on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September, the official said.

Lavrov expressed regret about Washington's decision during the phone call with Tillerson, his ministry said.

"Moscow will closely study the new measures announced by the Americans, after which our reaction will be conveyed," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The latest U.S. move caps eight months of back-and-forth retaliatory measures between the two countries spanning two U.S. administrations.

In December, the administration of Barack Obama closed two Russian countryside vacation retreats in Maryland and New York, saying the compounds had been used for intelligence-related purposes. The closures were part of a broader response, including the expulsion of 35 suspected Russian spies, to what U.S. officials have called cyber interference by Moscow in the 2016 elections. The Kremlin has denied the allegations.

Trump came into office wanting to improve relations with Russia, a desire that was hamstrung by the election interference allegations. The new sanctions passed by Congress conflicted with Trump's goals, but he grudgingly signed them into law this month.

The United States said last week that it would have to sharply scale back visa services in Russia, a move that will hit Russian business travelers, tourists and students.

The Russian consulate in San Francisco handles work from seven states in the Western United States. There are three other Russian consulates separate from the embassy in Washington. They are in New York, Seattle and Houston.

The consulate in San Francisco is the oldest and most established of Russia's consulates in the United States, the senior Trump administration official told reporters. An official residence at the consulate will also be closed.

No Russian diplomats are being expelled, and the diplomats assigned to San Francisco can be re-assigned to other posts in the United States, the official said.

The Russians can continue to retain ownership of any of the closed facilities, or sell them, but will not be allowed to carry out diplomatic activities there, the official said.

"Even after these closures, Russia will still maintain more diplomatic and consular annexes in the United States than we have in Russia," the official said. "We've chosen to allow the Russian government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship."</s>WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday ordered Russia to close a consulate in San Francisco and two diplomatic annexes, in New York and Washington, retaliating against Russia’s order for the United States to reduce its embassy staff in Moscow by 755 people.

“In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians,” the State Department said in a statement, the United States would require Russia to close the three offices by September 2.

The statement did not say how many employees would be affected by the closings, although it noted that the reduction would leave the United States and Russia with three consulates in each other’s country.

“While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes,” the statement said, “we have chosen to allow the Russian government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship.”

The tit-for-tat response had been expected since earlier this month, when Russia acted after Congress imposed sanctions because of Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.</s>WASHINGTON (CN) – The Trump administration on Thursday ordered Russia to close its San Francisco consulate, along with two annex buildings in New York and Washington, all by Saturday.
The United States State Department orders Russia to close the Consulate-General in San Francisco and two other buildings by September 2, 2017, invoking "parity" over a Russian measure in July.