'Lowest point of relations': American Ambassador John Sullivan leaves Russia

US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan has confirmed that he will travel to Washington this week for consultations. Earlier, the media reported that Sullivan refuses to leave Russia, despite the insistent recommendations of the Russian Foreign Ministry to go home for consultations. Air force.

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“I believe it is important to speak directly with my new colleagues in the Biden administration in Washington about the current state of the bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia,” John Sullivan said in a statement.

The ambassador's statement also said that one of the reasons for leaving for the United States was that he had not seen his family for more than a year.

Lowest point of relationship

According to the US Embassy in Russia, Sullivan plans to return to Moscow within a few weeks. As representatives of the diplomatic mission specified, the ambassador will return to the Russian capital before the meeting of US President Joe Biden with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on April 20, it is too early to talk about the place and time of a possible meeting between Putin and Biden.

“It’s premature and we’re not close to it,” he said.

The return of the US ambassador to the Russian Federation will depend on the expediency of this, said Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

“Usually, the return of ambassadors after completion of consultations in their capitals is justified by expediency. We see that relations are now at their lowest point,” Peskov answered the question on what conditions and when the US ambassador will be able to return to Moscow.

On the subject: The White House froze the property of the Russian authorities in the United States: what else is in the new sanctions

Earlier, the American publication Axios, citing sources close to Sullivan, reported that the ambassador refused to leave Russia, despite persistent recommendations from the Russian Foreign Ministry to go “home for consultations.”

Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov was summoned to Moscow “for consultations to analyze Russian-American relations” back in mid-March - on the day when US President Joe Biden answered affirmatively to a journalist’s question about whether he considered Russian President Vladimir Putin to be the killer . Since then, the head of the Russian diplomatic mission has not returned to the United States.

Late last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of ten American diplomats in response to new US sanctions and the expulsion of ten Russian diplomatic missions from the United States.

Washington does not hide that the new series of sanctions is primarily associated with the aggravation of the situation in Donbass. Earlier, the press secretary of the President of the United States Jennifer Psaki said that, according to the American intelligence services, Russia has concentrated more troops near the borders of Ukraine than in 2014.

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On April 13, Joe Biden suggested that Vladimir Putin hold a meeting in the coming months to discuss the problems facing Russia and the United States. According to Biden, Russia and the United States have already begun to discuss the possibility of holding a meeting, which is likely to take place in the summer in one of the European countries.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• In mid-April, the United States introduced new sanctions in relation to Russian individuals and organizations. Also, the sovereign debt of Russia fell under the sanctions.
• In response to US sanctions, Russia decided to expel 10 American diplomats... This was announced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on April 16. According to him, at a meeting with US Ambassador John Sullivan, Assistant to the President of Russia Yuri Ushakov advised him to go to Washington and hold serious consultations there. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov was also invited to Moscow for consultations to analyze Russian-American relations.
• US Embassy in Ukraine warned its citizens that the situation on the border of Ukraine with Russia, in the Donbass and in the Crimea can change rapidly. Therefore, they ask the Americans in Ukraine to be on the alert, as the situation may change unexpectedly without notification.
• Federal Aviation Administration United States Department of Transportation posted messages, in which he recommends airlines to take special care when flying over parts of the territory of Ukraine and Russia.

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