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Russian Ambassador Antonov receives new US Ambassador to Russia Sullivan

They had an exchange of views on the current state of US-Russia relations as well as prospects for their development

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov Valery Sharifulin/TASS

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

WASHINGTON, December 31. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov and newly appointed US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan held a meeting in Washington on Monday, the Russian diplomatic mission said in a statement.

"On December 30, 2019 Ambassador of Russia to the United States Anatoly Antonov met at his residence with the newly appointed Ambassador of the United States to Russia John Sullivan," the statement from the Russian Embassy reads.

"They had an exchange of views on the current state of U.S.-Russia relations as well as prospects for their development," the statement added.

Last week, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo administered the oath of new US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan.

Sullivan served as US Acting Secretary of State between April 1 and 26, 2018 following the resignation of Rex Tillerson. In July 2019, Sullivan led a US delegation in Geneva at the talks with Russia on the strategic security.

On October 17, US President Donald Trump nominated Sullivan to be US Ambassador to Russia. On November 20, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations approved his candidacy.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented after talks with his US counterpart Michael Pompeo earlier this month that he viewed Sullivan as a "highly professional and experienced diplomat."

Sullivan said in mid-December that his work in Moscow would focus on areas where Moscow and Washington can still cooperate despite current contradictions. He said the priority would be on the issues of the arms control in the interests of both countries, exchange of information in the sphere of anti-terrorism fight, security in the Arctic as well as other issues.

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