Tillerson orders Russia to close its San Francisco consulate

WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ordered Russia on Thursday to close its consulate in San Francisco and two other U.S. annexes—a retaliation for the Kremlin’s recent reduction of the number of U.S. Embassy staff in Moscow. “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,” Heather Nauert, a State Department spokeswoman said in a statement. The move is intended to halt the downward spiral of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin downsized U.S. Embassy staff in Moscow by 755 employees. Tillerson informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of the retaliatory closures in a phone call on Thursday. The changes do not affect Russia’s main embassy in Washington, D.C.