In retaliation, U.S. orders Russia to close consulate in San Francisco

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration ordered Russia on Thursday to close its consulate in San Francisco and two diplomatic annexes, in New York and Washington, in a carefully calculated riposte to Russia's order that the United States cut its diplomatic staff in Russia.

The tit-for-tat move, which Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson conveyed to Russia's foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, in a morning phone call, bore all of the hallmarks of a Cold War-era grudge match. But the administration seemed eager to contain the fallout, casting the move as a straightforward return to diplomatic parity between the countries rather than the latest volley in an increasingly combative relationship.

"In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians," the State Department's spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, said in a statement, the U.S. would require Russia to close the three offices by Saturday.

Russia's reaction was similarly measured. The Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov "expressed regret at the escalation of tension in bilateral relations" and said that the Russian government would study the move before deciding how to respond. Russia's new ambassador to the United States, who arrived Thursday in Washington to be greeted by the news, was quoted by a state news agency as saying Moscow would respond without "hysterical outbursts."

"It's necessary to calmly sort things out," said the ambassador, Anatoly I. Antonov. "It's necessary to act calmly and professionally."

The administration's response had been expected for the past month, since Russia ordered the U.S. Mission to cut its staff by 755 people — a sign of its displeasure after Congress imposed sanctions because of Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

The State Department's announcement seemed calculated to send a firm signal without deepening the rift. The administration is not expelling any Russian diplomats from the United States, nor is it touching the staff at the Russian Embassy in Washington.

"It is an important and needed response, but it is not proportionate," said Michael A. McFaul, who served as ambassador to Russia during the Obama administration. "The dismissal of 755 employees has a much greater impact on our diplomatic operations in Russia than this action has on Russian operations in the United States."

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The State Department did not say how many employees would be affected by the closings, although officials said it would be far fewer than 755 — a figure that would leave no Russian diplomats in the United States. In its order, Russia insisted that the U.S. diplomatic presence in Russia match the Russian presence in America: 455 people.

Instead, the Trump administration focused on facilities. Forcing the shutdown of the San Francisco consulate leaves the United States and Russia with three consulates each in the other country. San Francisco is the oldest and most established Russian Consulate in the United States, according to administration officials, consisting of an office building and a residence. The two annexes housed Russian trade missions.

Russia also has consulates in New York, Houston and Seattle. But San Francisco is second only to New York in value to the Russians because of its proximity to Silicon Valley, said Evelyn Farkas, the Pentagon's top Russia policy official in the Obama administration. In addition to corporate espionage, analysts said, the consulate could help further Russia's hacking efforts in the U.S.

Steven Hall, a former senior CIA official who ran Russia operations until his retirement in 2015, said, "I would assume they were using that as a base for intelligence operations in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley."

Closing San Francisco is also likely to hurt U.S. businesses less than closing Russia's consulate in Houston. Technology companies have fewer partnerships and deals with Russia than the energy firms based in Houston, Farkas said.

The administration's announcement bore little resemblance to Russia's move, which was announced by President Vladimir Putin himself in an interview with state-run Russian television. The White House delegated the response to Tillerson, and the explanation of the move was left to a midlevel State Department official.

Tillerson and Lavrov are expected to meet in September during the U.N. General Assembly session. U.S. officials expressed hope that they could clear the air between Moscow and Washington. A senior White House official noted recently, however, that Putin faces a re-election campaign next year. While the outcome is hardly in doubt, getting tough on the United States plays well with Putin's supporters.

President Donald Trump has kept his distance from the dispute. He expressed gratitude, rather than anger, toward Putin when was asked about the Russian president's action to reduce U.S. diplomatic personnel.

"I want to thank him because we're trying to cut down the payroll," Trump said, "and as far as I'm concerned, I'm very thankful that he let go a lot of a large number of people, because now we have a smaller payroll."

Putin's move was also a delayed reaction to President Barack Obama's expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and his seizure of two Russian diplomatic compounds last year. Obama was acting after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 election. The administration said there was no decision on whether the Russian government would be allowed to take back those facilities.

During the Soviet era, the United States and the Soviet Union each had four consulates. But one of the American outposts was in Kiev, which went to newly independent Ukraine after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Since then, the two countries have had an uneven number of consulates. Thursday's announcement corrected the imbalance.

"Since the Russians have talked about parity, this is a very smart move because it gets us to parity on the number of consulates," said Patrick Kennedy, a former undersecretary of state for management.

Forcing Russia to reduce its personnel might have resulted in a similar demand from the Russians, and "any further reductions in personnel at our embassy in Moscow would be very difficult, if not impossible, to absorb," he said.

In its statement, the State Department said, "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."

There is palpable regret among former Obama administration officials that Obama was not more punitive toward Russia, particularly given that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election may have helped defeat their preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton. So while few are impressed with Tillerson's leadership of the State Department, many said they strongly supported his latest slap at Russia.

"The Russians need a kick in the pants to understand that we're not going to just take this sitting down," said Michael Carpenter, who served as the Russia director on the National Security Council during the Obama administration.

The United States, Carpenter said, had not responded adequately to Russia's growing harassment of U.S. diplomats, nor to its systematic closing down of "American corners" around Russia that the United States had established to provide Russians with books, computers and other literature so Russians could learn about the U.S.

"Frankly," he said, "I think it's appropriate to reciprocate."

Sophia Kishkovsky contributed reporting from Moscow.