US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan refuses to leave the country after the Kremlin’s recommendations to “return home” in connection with the new sanctions imposed by the administration of US President Joe Biden. This was announced on Tuesday, April 20, by the Axios news portal, citing sources.
Assistant to the President of Russia Yuri Ushakov held a joint meeting with the American diplomat, as a result of which he invited Sullivan to return to Washington for consultations with Joe Biden’s officials.
“According to people familiar with Sullivan’s thinking, if Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a diplomat to leave Moscow, he will have to force him to do so,” the article says.
The State Department spokesman himself declined to comment.
Former ambassador to the administration of former US President Barack Obama, Mike McFaul, in turn, praised John Sullivan’s decision to continue working, regardless of Russia’s recommendations.
The day before, on April 19, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that Russia’s proposal to send the American ambassador to Moscow, John Sullivan, for consultations is still relevant.