U.S. retaliates against Russia, orders closure of consulate, annexes

[webfact]

U.S. retaliates against Russia, orders closure of consulate, annexes

By Yeganeh Torbati

 

A man walks his dog outside the gate to the entrance of the Consulate General of Russia in San Francisco, California, U.S., August 31, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - 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 travellers, 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."

 

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; editing by Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-01

[shaurene]

Trump at it again. Why can he not try for friendly peaceful discussions. Like giving Put a call and saying "Hey Put get ye ass over here have a few beers and work this out.

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, shaurene said:

Trump at it again. Why can he not try for friendly peaceful discussions. Like giving Put a call and saying 

"Hey Put get ye ass over here have a few beers and work this out.

I think a lot of problems could be worked out after a few beers!  LOL

 

Sadly, the start of this was Russia's hacking of the US elections and Obama's subsequent expulsion of numerous Russian agents.

[Sydebolle]

Nauert said Russia acted "unwarranted and detrimental " and hence fiddles around in the soup again. 

Putin might play it cool and send yet another identical number of American diplomats packing. At the end the Swiss might be entrusted with the representation of Russia in the US while also taking care of the US interests in Russia (see Iran and Cuba before). 

America's foreign policy is proof of a continuous failure since the second half of the last century - and no lessons learnt. 

[iReason]

12 minutes ago, Machiavelli said:

Retaliation? It was the Americans who started all this. Forgot the Russians do not have propaganda mills like Reuters! 

 

See post #3.

[NCC1701A]

7 minutes ago, Machiavelli said:

Forgot the Russians do not have propaganda mills like Reuters! 

 

F THE RUSSIANS.

 

RT (formerly Russia Today) is a Russian international television network funded by the Russian government.^[6][7] It operates cable and satellite television channels directed to audiences outside of Russia, as well as providing Internet content in various languages, including English, Spanish and Russian.

RT International, based in Moscow, presents around-the-clock news bulletins, documentaries, talk shows, debates, sports news, and cultural programmes that it says provide "a Russian viewpoint on major global events".

 

https://www.rt.com/

[RuamRudy]

54 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

I think a lot of problems could be worked out after a few beers!  LOL

 

Sadly, the start of this was Russia's hacking of the US elections and Obama's subsequent expulsion of numerous Russian agents.

Hardly a new phenomenon, and while both sides are dirty, one seems to be significantly dirtier, and we are all the poorer for that:

 

A 2016 study by Levin found that, among 938 global elections examined,^[a] the United States and Russia combined had involved themselves in about one out of nine (117), with the majority of those (68%) being through covert, rather than overt, actions. The same study found that "on average, an electoral intervention in favor of one side contesting the election will increase its vote share by about 3 percent," an effect large enough to have potentially changed the results in seven out of 14 US presidential elections occurring after 1960.^[2][c][d] According to the study, the U.S. intervened in 81 foreign elections between 1946 and 2000, while the Soviet Union or Russia intervened in 36.^[2]

source

[craigt3365]

2 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

Nauert said Russia acted "unwarranted and detrimental " and hence fiddles around in the soup again. 

Putin might play it cool and send yet another identical number of American diplomats packing. At the end the Swiss might be entrusted with the representation of Russia in the US while also taking care of the US interests in Russia (see Iran and Cuba before). 

America's foreign policy is proof of a continuous failure since the second half of the last century - and no lessons learnt. 

Russia is hurt by all this much worse than the US. Lots of Russians lost their jobs when Putin closed the US offices there.

 

The US economy is doing great. Perhaps their foreign policy isn't such a failure.  LOL

[Krataiboy]

53 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

 

F THE RUSSIANS.

 

RT (formerly Russia Today) is a Russian international television network funded by the Russian government.^[6][7] It operates cable and satellite television channels directed to audiences outside of Russia, as well as providing Internet content in various languages, including English, Spanish and Russian.

RT International, based in Moscow, presents around-the-clock news bulletins, documentaries, talk shows, debates, sports news, and cultural programmes that it says provide "a Russian viewpoint on major global events".

 

https://www.rt.com/

 

Yeah, but.. .

 

Apples and oranges. RT is a self-professed national propaganda channel. The same cannot be said for the likes of CNN, Fox News, MSN etc.

[Scott]

Troll post reported and removed.  

[Thakkar]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

A man walks his dog outside the gate to the entrance of the Consulate General of Russia in San Francisco, California, U.S., August 31, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

That's where the dog makes it's dead drop for the Russian dog.

Edited September 1, 2017 by Thakkar

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

 

Yeah, but.. .

 

Apples and oranges. RT is a self-professed national propaganda channel. The same cannot be said for the likes of CNN, Fox News, MSN etc.

BS. Comparing RT to other MSM sights is ridiculous. And trolling. CNN does some fine reporting. Unless you are like Trump and don't like what they report!  LOL

[Krataiboy]

26 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

BS. Comparing RT to other MSM sights is ridiculous. And trolling. CNN does some fine reporting. Unless you are like Trump and don't like what they report!  LOL

Your missing the point, which is not like you. RT makes no pretence to be other than what is, though it is a useful aperture for those interested in finding out what's on the other side of the looking glass. Maybe you should try it some time.

[wanderluster]

amazing how good us and rusian scietists, athletes musicians can get along but it is always politicians that cause the problems

[F4UCorsair]

3 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

I think a lot of problems could be worked out after a few beers!  LOL

 

Sadly, the start of this was Russia's hacking of the US elections and Obama's subsequent expulsion of numerous Russian agents.

Yes, but the left want to blame Trump.....ssdd!

[boomerangutang]

                        I bet some Russkies in SF are angry.  SF is considered one of the nicest and most vibrant large cities to reside in.  Now, those folks are going to have to yank their kids out of school, get rid of lots of things, move out of their tony apartments, and.....   .....and move back to frigid gray Moscow?  If it was me, I'd apply for asylum in the US - which is what the Trumps may go for in Russia, in a few years.

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

Your missing the point, which is not like you. RT makes no pretence to be other than what is, though it is a useful aperture for those interested in finding out what's on the other side of the looking glass. Maybe you should try it some time.

I got your point. RT does not advertise itself as a national propaganda channel. Quite the opposite actually. It's not useful at all as it's full of propaganda and fake news. Best avoided at all costs.

 

https://www.rt.com/about-us/
 

Quote

 

About RT

With its first international news channel launched in December 2005, today RT is a global, round-the-clock news network that includes seven TV channels broadcasting news, current affairs and documentary content, digital platforms in six languages and a video news agency RUPTLY. Round-the-clock news channels in English, Arabic and Spanish and documentary channel RTDoc in English and Russian broadcast from Moscow, while RT America airs from a Washington, DC studio and RT UK – from London. Today, RT is available in more than 100 countries spanning 5 continents.

 

 

I don't see anywhere they admit they are propaganda. Far from it. Sadly, some fall for their bs as the truth.

 

 

[YetAnother]

Sounds like a couple of teenagers

[farcanell]

5 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

America's foreign policy is proof of a continuous failure since the second half of the last century - and no lessons learnt. 

???? and as the first half of last century's foreign policy was dominated by "isolationism", that's not a very good track record in foreign policy... a whole century of failure ( although in hindsight ... maybe isolationism was a win ??)

[selftaopath]

5 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

 

F THE RUSSIANS.

 

RT (formerly Russia Today) is a Russian international television network funded by the Russian government.^[6][7] It operates cable and satellite television channels directed to audiences outside of Russia, as well as providing Internet content in various languages, including English, Spanish and Russian.

RT International, based in Moscow, presents around-the-clock news bulletins, documentaries, talk shows, debates, sports news, and cultural programmes that it says provide "a Russian viewpoint on major global events".

 

https://www.rt.com/

Is their "sister station" Fox and Friends? 

[selftaopath]

3 hours ago, wanderluster said:

amazing how good us and rusian scietists, athletes musicians can get along but it is always politicians that cause the problems

Russian athletes? Seriously? Let's face it Russia is a totally corrupt country at ever level. Hell their athletes took/take more drugs than can be counted.

[iReason]

9 hours ago, F4UCorsair said:

Yes, but the left want to blame Trump.....ssdd!

How did you concoct this fantasy?

 

Who on "the left", want's to "blame" the occupier of the White House for the expulsion of 35 Russian agents, because of it's efforts to interfere with the US presidential election? Who consequently, received sweeping sanctions?

 

I don't think anyone want's to give the occupier that credit at all.

 

Very bizarre supposition...

[craigt3365]

2 hours ago, farcanell said:

???? and as the first half of last century's foreign policy was dominated by "isolationism", that's not a very good track record in foreign policy... a whole century of failure ( although in hindsight ... maybe isolationism was a win ??)

I think that thousands who lost their lives fighting in 2 world wars in Europe  might disagree about the isolationist part. And looking at the success of the US, hardly a failure. Those who hate the US will always find a way to bash it.

[F4UCorsair]

2 hours ago, iReason said:

How did you concoct this fan tasy?

 

Who on "the left", want's to "blame" the occupier of the White House for the expulsion of 35 Russian agents,

because of it's efforts to interfere with the US presidential election?

Who consequently, received sweeping sanctions?

 

I don't think anyone want's to give the occupier that credit at all.

 

Very bizarre supposition...

What an aggressive,  obnoxious chap.

 

Incidentally, no apostrophe Is  required In 'wants'.

[Nilats]

Extremely misleading heading here. It was the US who started this - US president Obama started this when he kicked out a ton of Russian diplomats last year. Then Trump signed sanctions against Russia. So America "retaliates" against it's own actions Russia earlier? Not even CNN or BBC allowed themselves to fall so low as to call this action by US govt a "retaliation" of any sort, cause that would be obviously stupid. Even the completely zombified world western audience understands in this particular case that this was definitely an attack and not a "retaliation" :)

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed.   I don't thing we need to re-fight WWII.

[craigt3365]

4 hours ago, Nilats said:

Extremely misleading heading here. It was the US who started this - US president Obama started this when he kicked out a ton of Russian diplomats last year. Then Trump signed sanctions against Russia. So America "retaliates" against it's own actions Russia earlier? Not even CNN or BBC allowed themselves to fall so low as to call this action by US govt a "retaliation" of any sort, cause that would be obviously stupid. Even the completely zombified world western audience understands in this particular case that this was definitely an attack and not a "retaliation" :)

So you are saying Russia was not spying on the US and didn't do any hacking of computers in the US? Obama did this just to attack Russia? Seriously?

 

Luckily, it's been proven they did. Thus, Obama's justified actions. Unless you only follow Russian media. LOL

[craigt3365]

For the education of some.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/us/politics/russia-election-hacking-sanctions.html

Obama Strikes Back at Russia for Election Hacking

 

[RobFord]

Your missing the point, which is not like you. RT makes no pretence to be other than what is, though it is a useful aperture for those interested in finding out what's on the other side of the looking glass. Maybe you should try it some time.

 

Complete BS. RT parrots western news organizations when it suits their purpose. Ive found RT in every Asian hotel room and never found them to criticize Putin. They spew anti western news sourced from western news organizations. That's it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Krataiboy]

1 hour ago, RobFord said:

 

Complete BS. RT parrots western news organizations when it suits their purpose. Ive found RT in every Asian hotel room and never found them to criticize Putin. They spew anti western news sourced from western news organizations. That's it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

But they have George Galloway. What more do you need?