WNAM REPORT: Russia’s new ambassador to the United States will be faced with the prime task of restoring the minimum level of interstate relations, which had been almost zeroed by Washington, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Friday.
“Until a new [Russian] ambassador is officially appointed following a [relevant] decree from the Russian president, it is premature to say what particular instructions he would be dealing with,” Ryabkov said in an interview with Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda daily web portal kp.ru.
“If speaking in general terms, the prime task considering the arrival of the new administration, should be regarding the restoration of at least a minimum level of the interstate dialogue, which Washington had almost zeroed,” Ryabkov said.
Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Anatoly Antonov as Russia’s Ambassador to the United States. On October 5, the US Embassy told that Antonov was wrapping up his mission in Washington and the diplomat returned to Moscow the next day.
Antonov, 69, has served as Russia’s Ambassador to the United States since 2017. He headed the Russian Embassy during the most turbulent period in the history of Moscow-Washington relations.
The past few years have seen quite an unprecedented worsening of bilateral ties, which Russia blames on the United States. At that, Washington has imposed restrictions on Russian diplomats working in the United States. In 2017, it closed Russia’s Consulate General in San Francisco, California, and ordered the closure of the Russian diplomatic mission in Seattle, Washington, in 2018.
On November 20, Peskov told journalists that the Kremlin had already decided on the candidacy of Russia’s new ambassador to the United States, and his appointment could be expected in the nearest future.
