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Former US ambassador asks Russian counterpart to help him get out of sanctions

STANFORD /California/, December 2. /TASS/. Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul has asked the incumbent Russian Ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov to help his removal from the blacklist of U.S. officials and citizens, whose entry of Russia is banned.

McFaul, who occupied the position of the U.S. Ambassador in Moscow from January 2012 through to February 2014, revealed the news at Stanford University, his alma mater, on Friday.

He met with Antonov earlier on the same day and discussed with him some aspects of Russian-U.S. relations, highly strained at present. Speaking to reporters later on, McFaul said he was missing Russia and he had asked the Russian Ambassador to help him get off the blacklist.

He also said he hoped to come to Russia soon.

The Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Channel One Russia in November 2016 the Russian authorities had placed McFaul on the sanctions list for the premeditated damage he had inflicted on bilateral relations.

Ambassador Antonov is making a tour of California that will continue through Sunday. His itinerary includes meetings with fellow-countrymen, experts and business executives, as well as lectures at universities. Also, he plans to visit Fort Ross, a former Russian settlement and fortress.