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US demands Russia close down 3 diplomatic facilities on American territory

The US demands to close facilities in San Francisco, Washington and New York by September 2

The Russian Consulate General in San Francisco Eugene Zelenko/wikipedia.org

The Russian Consulate General in San Francisco

© Eugene Zelenko/wikipedia.org

WASHINGTON, August 31. /TASS/. Washington has issued a demand to Russia to close down three diplomatic facilities on American soil by September 2, US Department of State Spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a written statement on Thursday.

She indicated that the matter in question was the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco, a department at the Russian Embassy in Washington and a diplomatic facility in New York.

Moscow's response

It is important to clear up the situation surrounding Washington's new decisions on Russian diplomatic missions in a cool-headed manner and without hysterics, the new Russian Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov stressed.

"We need a cool, clear-headed and professional course of action now," he told reporters upon arrival at the Dulles International Airport.

"Speaking in Lenin’s words, we don’t need any hysterical fits," Antonov stated.

"My fellow diplomats and I will do our job professionally," he vowed.

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