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WASHINGTON, Sept. 1-- Thursday's closure of the Russian Consulate in the U.S. city of San Francisco is the latest event in the ongoing sour relationship between the United States and Russia. On Thursday the U.S. ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco, as well as diplomatic annexes in New York and Washington, in retaliation for Russia's order that the United States slash staff at its Moscow embassy. These instances are the latest in a string of jabs between the two countries, whose relationship is at a low perhaps not seen since the Cold War, according to analysts. While ties between the two countries have certainly not worsened to the level they were before the fall of the Berlin Wall, they are not expected to improve anytime soon. Poor relations are the result of ongoing disagreements involving the war in Syria, the conflict in Ukraine, and U.S. accusations that the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, a charge Russia strongly denies. While Russia's response to Thursday's closure was measured, the situation could escalate going forward, if each side continues to shift the blame toward the other, analysts said. "The consulate closing will chill U.S.-Russia relations. Each side will continue to retaliate and blame the other for starting the problem," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua. "The situation could escalate and become problematic for both countries. If we are lucky, cooler heads will prevail and keep the escalations to a minimum," West said. | 
