Russia summons US ambassador after Biden's 'shocking' statement

Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov will return home to attend consultations to find ways to resolve the crisis in bilateral relations. Photo: TASS

On March 17, the Russian Embassy said that Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov will fly to Moscow on March 20 to attend consultations related to future bilateral relations.

On its Facebook account, the agency wrote: “Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov will fly to Moscow for consultations on March 20. He will hold meetings at the Russian Foreign Ministry and other government agencies to discuss ways to repair Russia-US relations, which are currently in crisis.”

According to the embassy, ​​the current crisis in relations between Russia and the United States stems from Washington's policies and specific statements by senior US officials that pose a threat to the collapse of bilateral relations.

“The current situation stems from Washington’s deliberate policy. In fact, over the past few years Washington has deliberately driven bilateral cooperation into a dead end. The US administration’s unconstructive policy towards our country is not in the interests of Russia or the US, and some thoughtless statements by high-ranking US officials pose a threat to a complete collapse of bilateral relations, which are already overly confrontational,” the Russian Embassy in the US wrote.

The diplomatic agency added that Russia called for establishing a dialogue with the United States and insisted that good and substantive relations benefit both countries. The embassy stressed: "We support establishing a dialogue between the two permanent members of the United Nations Security Council who bear great responsibility for international peace and security."

The source also noted that Russia believes that “good and substantive relations between Russia and the US serve the interests of the two countries and the international community.”

In comments made on March 17, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Ambassador Antonov had been summoned to Moscow for consultations “to analyze what needs to be done in the context of relations with the United States.”

US President Joe Biden said Russia will pay a price if it really interferes in the 2020 US election. Photo: EPA-EFE

Earlier the same day, US President Joe Biden, in an interview with ABC television, said that he declared that Russia's leadership would have to "pay a price" for its attempts to interfere in US elections that Washington attributed to Moscow.

Reportedly, host George Stephanopoulos questioned Mr. Biden's reaction to the release of a declassified report by the US intelligence director's office, which asserted that Russian officials sought to discredit Mr. Biden and the Democratic Party during last year's election campaign.

“He’s going to pay a price,” Biden replied, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We’ve had a long conversation, he and I (…) I know him pretty well. And when the conversation started, I said, ‘I know you and you know me. If I determine that this has happened, be prepared.’”

“The most important thing when dealing with foreign leaders in my experience is just understanding the other person,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said the Russian government believes claims that Russia interfered in the 2020 US presidential elections are baseless.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted on March 17: “We can only once again express our regret that these contents, which have no value at all, are being used as a pretext to raise the issue of imposing additional sanctions” against Russia./.