By Dominic Taylor-
Washington’s ambassador to Moscow has announced plans to return to the US for consultations, days after the Russian government recommended he leave the country during what it said was an “extremely tense situation”.
John Sullivan,(pictured) was appointed by former President Donald Trump, who previously served as deputy secretary of State, said in a statement that he believes “it is important for me to speak directly with my new colleagues in the Biden administration in Washington about the current state of bilateral relations between the United States and Russia.”
There is serious tension between the two countries n retaliation after sanctions were imposed over alleged hacking and interference in US elections. The two countries are also at loggerheads over Russian’s military build-up on Ukraine’s border and its treatment of Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned opposition leader who is said to be close to death after a three-week hunger strike.
Only last week, the Biden administration expelled 10 Russian diplomats and announced sweeping sanctions against Russia for its alleged elections interference and role in the SolarWinds supply chain hack. It was the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats since the 2018 Salisbury poisonings.
Russia responded by expelling 10 US diplomats, and targeted US embassy operations, also recommending the ambassador leave the country.
“I believe it is important for me to speak directly with my new colleagues in the Biden administration in Washington about the current state of bilateral relations between the United States and Russia,” Sullivan said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Also, I have not seen my family in well over a year, and that is another important reason for me to return home for a visit. I will return to Moscow in the coming weeks before any meeting between presidents Biden and Putin.”
Russia recalled its ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, for consultations in March after Biden agreed with a television journalist that Putin was “a killer” and said Putin would “pay a price” for its alleged interference during the 2020 elections.
. The last US ambassador to be expelled from the country was George F Kennan, who was declared persona-non-grata by the Soviet Union under Stalin in 1952.
The foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said Moscow will move to shut down those US nongovernment organizations that remain in Russia to end what he described as their meddling in Russia’s politics.
Russia will also deny the US Embassy the possibility of hiring personnel from Russia and third countries as support staff, limit visits by US diplomats serving short-term stints at the embassy, and tighten requirements for US diplomats’ travel in the country.
The others banned from entering Russia are Susan Rice, a former UN ambassador and now head of the Domestic Policy Council; John Bolton, who was a national security adviser under former President Donald Trump; James Woolsey, a former CIA director; and Michael Carvajal, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said Moscow will move to shut down those US nongovernment organizations that remain in Russia to end what he described as their meddling in Russia’s politics.
Russia will also deny the US Embassy the possibility of hiring personnel from Russia and third countries as support staff, limit visits by US diplomats serving short-term stints at the embassy, and tighten requirements for US diplomats’ travel in the country.
The others banned from entering Russia are Susan Rice, a former UN ambassador and now head of the Domestic Policy Council; John Bolton, who was a national security adviser under former President Donald Trump; James Woolsey, a former CIA director; and Michael Carvajal, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.