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Russia recalls ambassador to US for consultations

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, the Joe Biden administration will soon mark 100 days in office and it is time to evaluate its activities

Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov Valery Sharufulin/TASS

Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov

© Valery Sharufulin/TASS

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov has been recalled for consultations, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov has been invited for consultations in order to figure out what to do and where to move in terms of relations with the United States," the statement reads.

Zakharova stressed that Russia was interested in preventing relations with the US from irreversibly deteriorating and blamed Washington for the stalemate between the two countries. "The main thing for us is to find out ways to improve Russia-US relations," she added.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, the Joe Biden administration will soon mark 100 days in office and it is time to evaluate its activities.

US President Joe Biden said earlier in an interview with ABC News that the Russian authorities would have to "pay a price" for their alleged interference in US elections. On Tuesday, the US chief intelligence office released an unclassified report on foreign interference in the 2020 US presidential election, which claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw efforts to denigrate Joe Biden’s candidacy. When asked to comment on the report, Biden said that Putin was "going to pay."

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that the Kremlin viewed allegations about Russia’s interference in the 2020 US election as baseless. He emphasized that they were used as an excuse for additional sanctions on Russia.

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