U.S. Ambassador to Russia Returning to Washington After Kremlin ‘Advises’ Him to Go

Washington’s ambassador to Moscow has confirmed that he’s temporarily returning to the United States, just a few days after the Russian government advised him to leave the country. Last week, in a retaliatory response to U.S. sanctions for election interference and the recent SolarWinds mega-hack, the Kremlin announced that it would expel 10 U.S. diplomats and also urged Ambassador John Sullivan to return home. Despite initial reports saying that he’d stay put, Sullivan announced in a statement early Tuesday: “I believe it is important for me to speak directly with my new colleagues in the Biden administration in Washington about the current state of bilateral relations between the United States and Russia... I will return to Moscow in the coming weeks before any meeting between presidents Biden and Putin.” Russia recalled its ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, in March after Biden expressed his belief that Vladimir Putin is “a killer,” so both countries’ embassies will be without their top diplomats as their relations worsen.