Serious USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San Fran

Get ready the missiles.



https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/us/politics/russia-consulate-close-retaliation.html


In Retaliation, U.S. Orders Russia to Close Consulate in San Francisco

By MARK LANDLERAUG. 31, 2017
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The State Department ordered the Russian Consulate in San Francisco to close. Credit Josh Edelson/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and two diplomatic annexes, in New York and Washington, retaliating against Russia’s order for the United States to reduce its embassy staff in Moscow by 755 people.

Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson informed Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, of the tit-for-tat move in a phone call on Thursday morning. The administration took pains to say the move was purely reciprocal, and was not designed to further escalate tensions between the United States and Russia.

But, in a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said Mr. Lavrov “expressed regret at the escalation of tension in bilateral relations,” and said the Russian government would study the move before deciding how to respond.

Mr. Tillerson and Mr. Lavrov are expected to meet during the United Nations General Assembly next month.

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“In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians,” the State Department’s spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, said in a statement, the United States would require Russia to close the three offices by Sept. 2.
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The State Department would not say how many employees will be affected by the closings, although it noted that the reduction would leave the United States and Russia with three consulates in each other’s country.

“While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes,” the statement said, “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.”

The Cold War-style response had been expected since earlier this month, when Russia ordered the American embassy staff cuts after Congress imposed sanctions because of Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
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The Russian consulate in San Francisco is the oldest and most established consulate in the United States, according to administration officials, consisting of an office building and a residence. The two annexes housed Russian trade missions.

But the State Department’s response seemed calculated to avoid deepening the rift with Russia. The administration is not expelling any Russian diplomatic personnel from the United States, nor did it touch the staff at Russia’s main embassy in Washington.

“It is an important and needed response, but it is not proportionate,” said Michael A. McFaul, who served as ambassador to Moscow 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.”

The Trump administration’s announcement of the action also bore little resemblance to Russia’s move, which was announced by President Vladimir V. Putin himself in an interview with stare-run Russian television.

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The White House delegated the response to Mr. Tillerson, and the explanation of the move was left to a midlevel State Department official.

President Trump expressed gratitude, rather than anger, toward Mr. Putin when was asked about the Russian action to reduce American embassy personnel in Moscow.

“I want to thank him because we’re trying to cut down the payroll,” Mr. 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.”

Mr. Putin’s move was a delayed reaction to President Barack Obama’s expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and his seizure of two Russian diplomatic compounds last year. He was acting after the nation’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.
Correction: August 31, 2017

An earlier version of this article misstated when the Trump administration ordered Russia to close three diplomatic offices. It was Thursday, not Wednesday.

Sophia Kishkovsky contributed reporting from Moscow

Get politics and Washington news updates via Facebook, Twitter and the Morning Briefing newsletter.

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

Altogether now!!! Hoot ah!!!

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

wayang only. they need to cut down to 3 consulates, thus the most expensive to maintain (sf) is first to go. russian staff and agents there have to be paid additional allowance to survive in the city.

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

russians should hv turned it into a brothel inside sin city

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

Escalating to 3 Consulates?


http://www.cecildaily.com/news/state_news/article_0558ec99-e104-5fef-9e88-5935061b8b3d.html




U.S. orders Russia to close more diplomatic offices in escalating dispute

By Tracy Wilkinson & Sabra Ayres Tribune Washington Bureau 5 hrs ago 0

Russian diplomacy

In retaliation to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s directive that expelled 755 U.S. diplomatic staffers in July, the U.S. ordered the closure of three Russian consular offices Thursday.
Nikolsky Alexei/TASS/Zuma Press/TNS

WASHINGTON — Responding to a Russian government demand to drastically slash American diplomatic staff in Russia, the Trump administration on Thursday ordered Moscow to close three of its consular offices in the United States.

Russia will be required to close its consulate general in San Francisco, the chancery annex in Washington and the consular annex in New York, the State Department announced. The deadline is Saturday.

A senior administration official would not say how many Russian staffers were affected but noted they will not be required to leave the country. The official also did not say if the Russian missions employ any Americans.

The move was the latest tit-for-tat action in worsening relations between Washington and Moscow, despite President Donald Trump’s expressions of friendliness toward President Vladimir Putin.

Angered over a package of congressionally mandated economic sanctions, Russia had ordered the U.S. to cut its staff in Russia by around two-thirds, to 455. The administration official would not give an exact figure of how many staffers left Russia, or say how many of those cut were Americans, who will be transferred, or Russians, who will most likely be fired.

Trump did not comment immediately on the punitive actions. He previously said he should “thank” Putin for helping to trim the federal payroll. He later insisted he was being sarcastic.

As a result of the week’s actions, both nations will have a similar diplomatic footprint — each with an embassy and three consulates — what the Russians had called “parity.” The Russian government will have a few additional “annexes” that it will be allowed to continue to operate.

The two annexes that were ordered closed housed trade missions. The consulate general in San Francisco, a grand, butterscotch-colored building in the city’s elegant Pacific Heights neighborhood, was the “oldest and most established” of Russian diplomatic missions in the U.S., part of the reason it was chosen, the official said. The official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity in keeping with administration practice.

Russia also operates consulates in Seattle, Houston and New York.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson telephoned his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov earlier Thursday to notify him that the U.S. staff had met Russia’s Friday deadline for downsizing and to inform him of the new U.S.-mandated closures.

Despite the tensions, the two agreed to meet again in September at the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The drastic cut in its staff in Moscow, as well as in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg, forced the United States to suspend most visa issuing and related consular affairs.

The State Department labeled the order “unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries.”

“The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation’s desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern,” the State Department said.

That may not be likely any time soon. Putin will probably feel the need to retaliate again.

Relations between Putin and then-President Barack Obama were already at a low point when U.S. intelligence services determined that the Russian government had interfered in the 2016 U.S. election campaign. In the last weeks of his presidency, Obama expelled 35 Russians whom he accused of spying, and seized two Russian vacation compounds in Maryland and New York.

Putin did not retaliate, apparently deciding to wait and see if relations between Moscow and Washington improved under Trump, who has almost never had an unkind public word for the authoritarian Russian.

But investigations into possible collusion between Russians and Trump’s campaign have deepened and widened. In July, Congress voted for a new package of economic sanctions to punish Moscow for election meddling and its 2014 attack on Ukraine. The bill also made it difficult for Trump to lift the sanctions. He opposed the law but was forced to sign because it had been approved with a veto-proof majority.

Instead of rapprochement with Russia, Putin struck back, ordering the diplomatic staff reductions.

Tillerson has acknowledged that ties between the two countries may be more deteriorated than at any time since the end of the Cold War.

He has also said he hopes to be able to work with Russia on shared interests, such as fighting terrorism.

In a case of inconvenient timing, Russia’s new ambassador to the United States arrived in Washington on Thursday to take up his post.

“The world is calmer and safer when @Russia and #USA act together on the international arena,” Anatoly Antonov said on his Twitter account. “It is important that the US colleagues should understand that the confrontation with Russia is futile. There will be no winners in this conflict.”

Later, he cited Lenin:

“Now we need to sort this out calmly, very calmly and act in a professional manner,” he told reporters upon arriving, according to the state-run Russian news agency Tass. “To cite Lenin, we don’t need any hysterical outbursts.”

Lenin had famously once said: “We don’t need hysterical outbursts. We need the measured tread of the iron battalions of the proletariat.”

Antonov is a former military officer dispatched to replace Sergey Kislyak, a well-known and affable ambassador who found himself increasingly drawn into the Russia investigations.

In Russia, the reaction from the Kremlin reiterated a familiar line: The escalation in tensions between the two countries has been initiated once again by the Americans.

The American order to close the Russian consulate in San Francisco was “demagoguery against the backdrop of a new hostile campaign” against Russia, tweeted Alexei Pushkov, a senator and the chairman of the upper house of parliament’s information policy committee.

Several senators and other officials spoke of retaliation.

“Most likely, they need to save face and fulfill their promises, given the fact that they had to comply with our requirements to reduce the number of employees before Sept. 1,” Sen. Vladimir Dzhabarov said.

Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that Moscow could not ignore “unfriendly steps” from the U.S.

“We regret the unconstructive stance taken by our counterparts in the United States and, of course, we cannot afford to leave unfriendly, and sometimes hostile steps towards us without retaliation,” Peskov said.

Los Angeles special correspondent Sabra Ayres reported from Moscow.

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

eatshitndie said:

wayang only. they need to cut down to 3 consulates, thus the most expensive to maintain (sf) is first to go. russian staff and agents there have to be paid additional allowance to survive in the city.

Click to expand...

Exactly. All this was not a surprise to the Russians. This kind of wayang goes on all the time.

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

Moscow - Washington relationship now at all times low, worse than fucking Cold Wars.

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

Just fire one ICBM at both sides

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

steffychun said:

Just fire one ICBM at both sides

Click to expand...

Open champaign for that!

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40816708


Trump: US-Russia relations are at 'dangerous low'

3 August 2017
From the section US & Canada

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US President Donald Trump says his country's relationship with Russia is at a "dangerous low", amid a feud with Congress over new sanctions imposed against Moscow.

Mr Trump approved the measure on Wednesday, despite calling it "flawed".

Russia said the new sanctions were tantamount to declaring a "full-scale trade war".

The law aims to punish Russia for its alleged meddling in the 2016 US elections and its actions in Ukraine.

Mr Trump had opposed the bill, which also contains measures against Iran and North Korea, as it constrains his ability to ease the sanctions without the consent of Congress.

The final line of his signing statement argued Congress was making a mistake, saying "as president, I can make far better deals with foreign countries than Congress".
'You can thank Congress'

In a fresh outburst on Thursday, he made clear who he thought was responsible for the current state of US-Russia ties.

"Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low," he wrote on Twitter.

"You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!" he added, in reference to his inability to repeal and replace his predecessor Barack Obama's flagship health reforms.

The Trump-Russia saga in 200 words
Reality Check: What are the sanctions against Russia?
Why are so many US diplomats in Russia?

But the Republican senator for Arkansas, Tom Cotton, told MSNBC that "our relationship with Russia is at a very low point but it's [Russian President] Vladimir Putin's fault".
Analysis: Trump still bitter

Anthony Zurcher, North America reporter

When presented with a choice of whom to blame for the "dangerous low" state of US-Russia relations, Donald Trump pointed his finger at Congress.

The president is still clearly bitter that the Senate rejected the healthcare reform he backed. In fact, the most significant legislation presented for Mr Trump's signature so far has been the Russia sanctions bill he reluctantly signed on Wednesday.

That was not part of the president's agenda, but he still has hopes for advancing his own priorities through Congress - particularly tax reform and changes to the US immigration system.

Taking swipes at a co-equal branch of the US government, however, isn't going to make things any easier for him.

Never mind that the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union was pretty darn for 45 years of "cold war"- including several moments when the two nations appeared on the brink of war.

Or that the president again seems to be downplaying the conclusion by the US intelligence community that Russia tried to influence the US 2016 presidential election.

If newly installed chief of staff John Kelly is bringing new discipline to this White House, that doesn't seem to extend to the presidential twitter account.

Russia has also reacted angrily to the sanctions package. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said it "ends hopes for improving our relations with the new US administration".

In a Facebook post, Mr Medvedev said the measures showed Mr Trump's "total weakness" and that he had been humiliated by Congress.

A Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, would not elaborate on Mr Medvedev's comments but said "Russia will defend and protect its interests".

Moscow had already retaliated last week by ordering the US to cut its diplomatic mission in Russia by 755 people.

The legislation limits the amount of money Americans can invest in Russian energy projects, and makes it more difficult for US companies to do business with Russia.
Trump and Russia

While running for president, Donald Trump heaped praise on Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he wanted to see better relations between their two countries
But Mr Trump's time in office has been dogged by allegations Russia meddled in the election to help him win. Several investigations are under way to determine if his campaign colluded
Russia denies interfering and Mr Trump says there was no collusion, calling it a "witch hunt"
Claims of improper ties, and the emergence of undisclosed meetings with Russians, have led to the downfall of senior Trump officials and members of his close family are under scrutiny
Other factors have complicated ties too, such as the US raids on forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia's ally

Russia: The 'cloud' over the White House

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04/trump-russia-170413001737409.html

Trump says US-Russia ties 'may be at an all-time low'
As tensions rise over Syria, US president seems to walk away from campaign promise to improve ties with Moscow.

President Donald Trump has declared that US relations with Russia "may be at an all-time low".

His top diplomat offered a similarly grim assessment after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier on Wednesday.

"Right now we're not getting along with Russia at all," Trump said flatly during a White House news conference.

Only weeks ago, it appeared that Trump, who praised Putin throughout the US election campaign, was poised for a potentially historic rapprochement with Russia.
US sends mixed signals about strategy for Syria

But such a scenario seems highly unlikely as the two sides have clashed repeatedly over Syria following last week's suspected chemical attack and US missile strikes.

"It'd be a fantastic thing if we got along with Putin and if we got along with Russia," Trump said.

"That could happen, and it may not happen," he said. "It may be just the opposite."

Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said relations are at a low point and marked by serious distrust.

"There is a low level of trust between our two countries," Tillerson said in Moscow during a news conference with Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, adding that the "degradation" of US-Russian ties needs to end.

"The world's two foremost nuclear powers cannot have this kind of relationship," he said.

READ MORE: Trump - Putin's best frenemy

US and Russia have recently traded caustic accusations following a US strike on a Syrian airbase in retaliation to the suspected chemical attack on a rebel-held town in Syria, blamed by Washington on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia.

Tillerson's comments echoed televised remarks by Putin, who earlier on Wednesday said the trust between the two countries had "deteriorated" since Trump was elected US president.

"One could say that the level of trust on a working level, especially on the military level, has not improved but has rather deteriorated," Putin said in an interview broadcast on Russian television.

"On Syria, they are miles apart and it doesn't seem that there's been any breakthrough at all," Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from the White House, said.
Differences over Assad

Speaking to reporters, Tillerson reiterated Washington's position that Assad must eventually relinquish power - a position starkly at odds with Russia, which has been bombing rebel-held areas in Syria in support of Assad's forces since September 2015.

For his part, Lavrov warned against an international effort to remove Assad from power, citing the cases of Iraq and Libya to argue that the toppling of autocratic rulers by external forces leads to chaos.

He said Moscow was ready to resume a deal with Washington to avoid incidents in Syrian airspace as the two countries lead separate bombing campaigns.

"Today the president confirmed our readiness to return to its implementation on the understanding that the original aims of the air forces of the American coalition are reaffirmed, namely the fight with IS [ISIL] and al-Nusra," Lavrov said.

The deal was suspended after US missile strikes against the Shayrat airbase following a suspected gas attack in Khan Sheikhoun, in an act Moscow labelled "aggression against a sovereign state".

Tillerson said the US is confident in its assessment that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons in the bombing on Khan Sheikhoun and alleged that Syria has used such weapons more than 50 times in the past.

Lavrov said Russia has no intention to "shield anyone", adding that a United Nations chemical weapons watchdog must conduct an "objective and unbiased probe" into the attack that killed dozens of people.
Russian veto

Al Jazeera's Rory Challands, reporting from Moscow, said the press conference highlighted the two diplomats' "differences in style, in position and in views of the world".

"There was no dramatic proposals made, no big deals discussed," Challands said.

"The conversation was basically about how to stop it [the relation] from getting worse, not necessarily about grand steps to make it any better."

READ MORE: What next for US-Russia ties after Syria strike?

The press conference came just moments before Russia again cast a veto at the UN Security Council, blocking a bid from the US, UK and France to condemn the suspected gas attack and push the Syrian government to cooperate with investigators.

China, which has vetoed six resolutions on Syria since the civil war began six years ago, abstained from Wednesday's vote, along with Ethiopia and Kazakhstan.

Ten countries voted in favour of the text, while Bolivia joined Russia in voting no.

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/us/politics/trump-twitter-congress-russia.html?mcubz=3

Trump Blames Congress for Poor U.S. Relations With Russia

By EILEEN SULLIVANAUG. 3, 2017
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President Trump at the White House on Wednesday. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Trump blamed Congress on Thursday for the United States’ poor relationship with Russia, a day after he signed sanctions legislation that he said was flawed and unconstitutional.

In a Twitter message, Mr. Trump described America’s relationship with Russia as “at an all-time & very dangerous low.”

Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Aug. 3, 2017

The new law, which also includes sanctions on Iran and North Korea, limits Mr. Trump’s ability to change restrictions on Russia and is a reflection of bipartisan concern that Mr. Trump would ease punishments for the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea and meddling in the 2016 presidential election. In blaming Congress for the poor relations, Mr. Trump omits assigning responsibility to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for his role in Crimea, for violating a landmark arms control treaty with the deployment of a new cruise missile and for interference in elections in the United States and Europe.

Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and a strong supporter of the sanctions bill, disagreed with the president.

Our relationship w/ Russia is at dangerous low. You can thank Putin for attacking our democracy, invading neighbors & threatening our allies
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) Aug. 3, 2017

Several congressional committees and a special counsel are investigating whether there was any coordination between the Kremlin and Mr. Trump’s campaign advisers to influence the 2016 election to benefit Mr. Trump. The president has called the investigations a “witch hunt.”
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Russia had pre-emptively responded to the new sanctions by seizing two American diplomatic properties in Russia and ordering the United States to remove 755 members of its embassy staff stationed there. Mr. Trump has not publicly commented on the Kremlin’s response and did not invite the news media to cover the bill-signing event as he has for other laws. In a statement released on Wednesday, Mr. Trump called the law “significantly flawed,” and he said it included “a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions.”

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Mr. Trump has said he wants to improve the United States’ relationship with Russia. He is not the first American president to bristle at Congress for interfering with the ability to set foreign policy.

On Wednesday, the Russian prime minister, Dmitri A. Medvedev, declared the “end to hope for the improvement of our relations” and mocked Mr. Trump as having been forced to sign the sanctions into law.

“The Trump administration has demonstrated total impotence, handing over executive functions to Congress in the most humiliating way possible,” Mr. Medvedev wrote on Facebook. He added that “the American establishment has totally outplayed Trump” with the goal “to remove him from power.”

The same day Mr. Trump signed the sanctions bill, Vice President Mike Pence was in the Balkan nation of Montenegro, reaffirming the United States’ commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Montenegro joined the alliance in June, a move that incensed Moscow. Mr. Pence’s tone on Russia was more assuring to NATO members than that of Mr. Trump, who once called NATO “obsolete” but has since praised the alliance.

A version of this article appears in print on August 4, 2017, on Page A13 of the New York edition with the headline: Trump Blames Congress for Poor Relationship With Russia. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

Shut Up you are Not MM said:

Moscow - Washington relationship now at all times low, worse than fucking Cold Wars.

Click to expand...

Yes this wayang just distraction.
Only stewpig think both countries are now at loggerheads. Trump and Putin are likely best pals behind the scenes

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

Shut Up you are Not MM said:

Open champaign for that!

Click to expand...

it's champagne. champaign happens when you drink cold champagne during long hot summer military campaigns like napoleon did.

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

USA will never start a war with Russia because Putin and his people can shoot back. Russia is not Iraq or Afghanistan.

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

Reddog said:

USA will never start a war with Russia because Putin and his people can shoot back. Russia is not Iraq or Afghanistan.

Click to expand...

Situations in reality can force everything to happen and man's senses rationality and desire can be easily overcome by reality. Leaders and peasants all can be FORCE and DEPRIVED of CHOICES by reality.

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

burning of classified papers have begun.

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

eatshitndie said:

burning of classified papers have begun.

View attachment 31563

Click to expand...

It is their kitchen, they make Russian smoked Mackerel lunch:


[video=youtube_share;-689d2-DpBc]https://youtu.be/-689d2-DpBc[/video]


[video=youtube_share;NZvO5Ht-u4A]https://youtu.be/NZvO5Ht-u4A[/video]

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

Shut Up you are Not MM said:

Open champaign for that!

Click to expand...

Sorry ah but it's champagne! I will drink to that!

Re: USA - Russian War getting closer and closer, Trump shut Putin's consulate in San

eatshitndie said:

burning of classified papers have begun.

View attachment 31563

Click to expand...

no lah.. bee chhun hiong has a franchise inside making new halal bak kua