US gives Russia 48 hours to close three missions

In a retaliatory move, the U.S. has given Russia 48 hours to
close three of its missions in San Francisco, Washington D.C. and
New York.

The spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State, Heather
Nauert, said in a statement on Thursday that the move was to
achieve parity in diplomatic missions.

Moscow had asked Washington to reduce its missions officials in
Russia in retaliation for the seizure of property belonging to
Russians and expulsion of dozens of Russian nationals by President
Barack Obama.

Obama took the decision on the eve of the end of his tenure in
January in retaliation against Russia’s alleged meddling in the
Nov. 8, 2016, U.S. presidential election.

“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 Sept. 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 department
said.

The U.S. said it hoped that having moved toward the Russian
Federation’s desire for parity, it could avoid further retaliatory
actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal
of both of the two countries’ presidents.

The department noted that the goal of both President Donald
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was improved relations
between the 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 department added.

It said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson phoned his Russian
counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, “to inform him that we had met their
required reduction in size by their deadlines.’’

“And he also informed him of our plans to close the facilities
in question.

“There was also a meeting between our acting Assistant Secretary
for European and Eurasian Affairs John Heffern, who conveyed the
decisions and our response to the Russian Deputy Chief of Mission
Dmitry Zhirnov,” it added.

(NAN)

In a retaliatory move, the U.S. has given Russia 48 hours to
close three of its missions in San Francisco, Washington D.C. and
New York.

The spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State, Heather
Nauert, said in a statement on Thursday that the move was to
achieve parity in diplomatic missions.

Moscow had asked Washington to reduce its missions officials in
Russia in retaliation for the seizure of property belonging to
Russians and expulsion of dozens of Russian nationals by President
Barack Obama.

Obama took the decision on the eve of the end of his tenure in
January in retaliation against Russia’s alleged meddling in the
Nov. 8, 2016, U.S. presidential election.

“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 Sept. 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 department
said.

The U.S. said it hoped that having moved toward the Russian
Federation’s desire for parity, it could avoid further retaliatory
actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal
of both of the two countries’ presidents.

The department noted that the goal of both President Donald
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was improved relations
between the 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 department added.

It said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson phoned his Russian
counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, “to inform him that we had met their
required reduction in size by their deadlines.’’

“And he also informed him of our plans to close the facilities
in question.

“There was also a meeting between our acting Assistant Secretary
for European and Eurasian Affairs John Heffern, who conveyed the
decisions and our response to the Russian Deputy Chief of Mission
Dmitry Zhirnov,” it added.

(NAN)