Russian diplomats worked to vacate three properties in the United States yesterday including the six-story consulate in San Francisco, complying with a US order issued in retaliation for Moscow cutting the American diplomatic presence in Russia. <br/><br/>The closure ordered by the Trump administration of the consulate in San Francisco and two buildings housing Russian trade missions in Washington and New York was the latest in tit-for-tat measures between the two countries that have helped plunge relations to a new post-Cold War low. <br/><br/><br/>The United States ordered the Russians to shutter their operations in the buildings by Saturday.<br/><br/>In July, the Kremlin ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people, to match the number of Russian diplomats in the United States, after the US Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions against Russia. <br/><br/>Those US sanctions were imposed as punishment for what US intelligence agencies concluded was Moscow's interference in the 2016 US presidential election as well as Russia's annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, the United States seized control of three Russian diplomatic posts in the US today after confirming the Russians had complied with the Trump administration's order to get out within two days.