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Moscow may do more than just invite Russian envoy to US for consultations, senator says

If the US fails to provide an explanation and apology, it won’t end there, the senator pointed out

Deputy Speaker of the Russian Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev Anton Novoderzhkin/TASS

Deputy Speaker of the Russian Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev

© Anton Novoderzhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden’s boorish remarks about Russian leader Vladimir Putin will inevitably have a negative impact on relations between the two countries, Deputy Speaker of the Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) Konstantin Kosachev wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

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"Such remarks cannot be tolerated under any circumstances and will inevitably rise tensions between our countries. The recall of the Russian ambassador to US for consultations is a prompt, adequate and the only sensible response in such a situation. I suspect that if the US fails to provide an explanation and apology, it won’t end there," the senator pointed out.

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. In addition, when asked if he considered Putin to be "a killer," Biden answered in the affirmative.

"This is a fault line. These boorish remarks have killed off all expectations that the new US administration will pursue a new policy towards Russia," Kosachev noted. According to him, "evaluations like these from a statesman of such a high rank are generally unacceptable." The Russian senator stressed that the remarks had come from the president of the country "that drops a bomb somewhere in the world every 12 minutes, according to expert estimates." "As a result, the death of more than 500,000 people has been linked to US actions since 2001. Could you comment on that, Mr. Biden?" Kosachev said.

The Russian embassy in the US said on Facebook on Wednesday that "on March 20, Ambassador of Russia to the United States Anatoly Antonov is leaving for Moscow for consultations." Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement earlier that Antonov had been invited to Moscow for consultations on ways to mend Russia-US relations.

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