WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is retaliating against Russia by forcing closure of its consulate in San Francisco and scaling back its diplomatic presence in Washington and New York. 
 
 The State Department says move is in response to the Kremlin forcing a cut in U.S. diplomatic staff in Moscow. Spokesman Heather Nauert says the move brings the U.S. and Russia into "parity," with each having three consulates in the other country. 
 
 Moscow forced the cut in American diplomatic staff earlier this year in retaliation for U.S. sanctions. Washington had to reduce its diplomatic staff by 755 people. 
 
 Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said the U.S. would respond by September. 
 
 The Russian offices must close by Saturday. The order affects Russia's "chancery annex" in Washington 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. We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries. 
 
 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, D.C., and a consular annex in New York City. These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2. 
 
 With this action both countries will remain with three consulates each. While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, 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 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 of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern. The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted.
– The press statement's title—"Achieving Parity in Diplomatic Missions"—may seem bland, but the message from the State Department is anything but: It explains the United States has ordered Russia to close a consulate in San Francisco and diplomatic annexes in New York and Washington by Saturday. The New York Times frames the moves as an "expected ... tit-for-tat response" after Russia forced a cut in US embassy staff in late July. Indeed, the AP notes Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said the US would respond by September. "We believe [Russia's] action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries," and the Trump administration is making the move "in the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians," per the statement. Once the closures are complete, each country will have three operating consulates remaining. The remainder of the statement: "While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, 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 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 of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern. The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted."