Russia has recalled its ambassador to the United States “for consultations”, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday, hours after President Joe Biden commented on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova did not give specific reasons for recalling Ambassador Anatoly Antonov, but said that relations between Moscow and Washington had ‘gone through difficult times’ and blamed Washington for them. brought to a ‘blind street’.
According to the Russian state news agency Tass, Zakharova noted in a separate interview on Thursday that “consultations” with Antonov “will last as long as they need”.
While Zakharova did not directly mention Biden’s comments in her statement, the Russian embassy in the US released its own comments early Thursday, blaming “certain ill-considered statements by high-ranking US officials” because they “already excessively confrontational relations” placed under the threat of collapse “. . “
The move to recall Antonov comes shortly after a television interview in which Biden is asked if he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin is a murderer and said “I do.”
Biden confirmed in the interview that he once told Putin that he did not have a soul ‘during a visit to the Kremlin as vice president in 2011, to which he said Putin replied:’ We understand each other . ‘
Biden also said Russia would face repercussions in last year’s presidential election after a declassified report from the U.S. National Intelligence Director’s office earlier this week found that Putin had influence over operations to force Donald Trump into the election in November to help.
“(Putin) will pay a price,” Biden asked ABC News about the report. Biden did not say what price Putin could pay, but simply said, “You will see soon.”
The Kremlin earlier dismissed the allegations in the report as unfounded.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that Biden’s remarks were “very bad”.
“I will not respond to words about this,” Peskov said. “I will just say that these are very bad statements from the American president.”
“He certainly does not want to improve relations with our country,” he added.
Peskov said he did not know if Putin intended to respond directly to Biden’s comments.
The foreign ministry said on Wednesday it was aware of Russia’s decision to recall the ambassador.
Meanwhile, White House spokesman Jen Psaki said the Biden government would take a straightforward approach in its relationship with Russia as former President Donald Trump.
Relations between Moscow and Washington have been strained since Biden took office.
The arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny after his poisoning with a nerve agent last year became the first test for the Biden government in its dealings with the Kremlin.
In cooperation with the European Union, the US earlier this month announced sanctions against senior members of the Russian government in connection with the poisoning of Navalny.
The sanctions were Moscow’s first since Biden became president and opened a comprehensive review of US-Russia policy, including the Kremlin’s action against Navalny, US election intervention, the Solar Winds cap. and reporting bonuses offered to the Taliban-linked groups to target U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Since Biden’s inauguration, the only moment of cooperation between the two countries was when the US and Russia extended a major nuclear arms control treaty last month.
On Thursday, Konstantin Kosachev, head of Russia’s foreign affairs committee, said Biden called Putin a “murderer” and “a watershed.”
“Any expectations of the new US government’s new policy on the Russian direction have been written off by this bourgeois statement,” Kosachev said in a Facebook post.
He called Antonov’s recollection an adequate response from the Kremlin, adding that it would not be Russia’s last step unless there was an explanation or apology from the American side.
Tatyana Chistikova contributed.