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U.S. Ambassador Returns To Russia After Two Months

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U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan has returned to Moscow, two months after leaving the post amid worsening relations between the United States and Russia, the embassy announced.

“Arrived back in Moscow today. Ready to work with the @USEmbRu team toward progress on U.S. foreign policy priorities, and with #Russia on our goal of a stable and predictable relationship between our countries,” embassy spokesman Jason Rebholz quoted Sullivan as saying on Twitter on June 24.

Sullivan was recalled for consultations in April as the United States and Russia announced tit-for-tat sanctions and diplomatic expulsions.

“I am pleased to return to Moscow,” Sullivan said in an interview with Interfax. “I look forward to working with our colleagues in the Russian government to achieve our goal of a stable and predictable relationship between the United States and Russia.”

After their June 16 summit in Geneva, U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin announced their ambassadors would soon be returning to their missions in a bid to lower tensions.

Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov returned to the United States on June 20, telling Russian media that he was optimistic and wanted to help build “equal and pragmatic” relations.

Antonov was recalled in March following a comment by Biden indicating he agreed that Putin is a “killer.”

Relations between Russia and the United States have deteriorated further since Biden took office in January, with Washington imposing sanctions on Moscow over cyberattacks, election meddling, and the poisoning and jailing of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters