Russian consulate in San Francisco denounces US 'unfriendly decision' to order its closure from buzai232's blog

Russia's Consulate General in San Francisco, a city on the US West Coast, issued a statement Thursday to denounce the US State Department order earlier in the day to close it down. Referring the State Department order as an "unfriendly decision," the consulate said it is "another step of the US authorities, which, first of all, will hit hard on Russian citizens residing in the consular district, as well as on American citizens." In addition, acknowledging that it will stop receiving visitors on all consular issues and that the US side gives only two days for its closure by Saturday, the consulate noted in the statement that it issued more than 16,000 tourist visas for American citizens in 2016.

However, the consulate remained operational Thursday, as dozens of people gathered in front of the building in downtown San Francisco, Northern California, waiting to be allowed into the visa office. They were told by a Russian official that they could pick up travel documents already processed but no new documents will be accepted and processed, and future processing of these documents will be handled by Russian consulate in Seattle, a city in Washington state. While the consulate official declined to answer any question by reporters, a phone number posted on the consulate's website was never answered when called throughout the day. The United States has ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco, the US State Department said Thursday, in response to Moscow's demand that the size of US diplomatic staff in Russia be reduced.