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John Sullivan, Sergey Ryabkov discussed ‘bilateral relations,’ Department of State says

The Department’s deputy spokesman Jalina Porter also refrained from commenting the statement regarding US IT giants’ violation of the Russian law ahead of the State Duma election

WASHINGTON, September 10. /TASS/. The US Department of State believes that Ambassador John Sullivan, who was previously summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry Friday, discussed matters of bilateral relations there, the Department’s deputy spokesman Jalina Porter said at a press briefing.

"On Friday, September 10, Ambassador Sullivan did meet with Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov to discuss a range of bilateral matters in support of [US President Joe] Biden’s desire for a stable and predictable relationship with Russia," she said.

She refused to clarify whether the Department of State believes that Sullivan simply met with Ryabkov in the Foreign Ministry instead of being summoned there.

She also refrained from commenting the statement regarding US IT giants’ violation of the Russian law ahead of the State Duma election. Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova underscored that Sullivan was summoned over "interference in the Russian election," while the embassy stated that the envoy simply discussed "bilateral relations." Zakharova expressed her hope that the US embassy would report the true reason for the summoning to Washington.