“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,” the U.S. State Department’s statement said.
It added the move would allow both countries to keep three consulates, adding: “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.”
Besides the embassy in Washington D.C., Russia has four consulates in the United States; in Seattle, San Francisco, Houston and New York.