Russia closes German consulate calling it retaliation for Germany's retaliation for Russia's retaliation

…(cont) This week, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced it is closing the German Consulate in St. Petersburg outright, ordering the staff out of the country by September 18. Moscow is calling it the latest turn in a cycle Berlin started. Berlin's position is that the whole cycle is a response to Moscow. Both statements are dated. Both statements are signed. Both statements name the other government as the one who moved first.

Here is what actually closed: two buildings out of Germany, an entire national network of cultural centers and a consulate out of Russia. Whoever is keeping score on proportion has quietly stopped comparing counts and started comparing which side is willing to run out of buildings first.

I defended Germany's closures as security policy. I defended Russia's closures as a mirrored response. I am now looking at two foreign ministries issuing statements that could swap letterheads and nobody downstream would notice the difference. That's the actual finding here: when both governments hand out the identical script, the script has stopped being an explanation and started being a routine.

Ten days from now, German consular staff in St. Petersburg pack up and leave. Whatever gets shut down after that will also be called retaliation. It generally is.