MOSCOW (Reuters) – US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan returned to Moscow on Thursday, which he left in April amid a diplomatic crisis between Washington and the Kremlin, as relations between the two countries have improved somewhat since the summit between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.
The American and Russian presidents met on June 16 in Geneva (Switzerland) for discussions which they described as pragmatic and during which they agreed on the return of their respective ambassadors.
“Back to Moscow today,” said John Sullivan, according to comments shared on Twitter by the spokesman for the US embassy. “Ready to work with (…) Russia towards our goal of a stable and predictable relationship between our two countries.”
Earlier, the Russian Interfax news agency reported that the American diplomat had said that Russia and the United States should be “open and frank” with each other on issues on which they disagree.
John Sullivan left Moscow in April, saying he was returning to Washington for consultations, four days after the Kremlin suggested that the United States recall its ambassador amid diplomatic tensions.
Moscow had previously recalled its ambassador to the United States after Joe Biden said in a television interview that he believed Vladimir Putin was a “killer” and that the two countries imposed sanctions on each other.
(Report Polina Ivanova and Tom Balmforth; French version Jean Terzian, edited by Sophie Louet)
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