US orders Russia to close consulate and annexes in diplomatic reprisal

The US has ordered Russia to close diplomatic offices in San Francisco, New York and Washington within the next two days, in the latest round of punitive measures between the two countries that began at the end of last year.

The secretary of state Rex Tillerson spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in a phone call on Thursday. Lavrov said Moscow “regrets an escalation of tension not initiated by Russia”, according to the state-run RT news channel. A senior US administration official said the call was “professional” and that Lavrov “agreed to the sentiment that it was important to find a way to improve our relations”.

No Russians will be expelled in this latest move, and US officials said staff at the offices affected could be reassigned to other Russian diplomatic missions around the country. But they made it clear that the buildings had to be vacated and would have to be sold or have their leases ended.

In this latest retaliatory move, the state department appeared to call Moscow’s bluff, after the Kremlin claimed it wanted parity between the US and Russian missions in each other’s countries.

The closures were announced on the day the new Russian ambassador, the former deputy foreign minister Anatoly Antonov, arrived in the US. His predecessor, Sergey Kislyak, was at the centre of the scandal surrounding contacts between aides to Donald Trump and the Putin regime.