John Sullivan, US Ambassador to Russia, announced today that he is going to leave Moscow this week on his way to Washington for consultations. He pointed out that he will return again to the Russian within a few weeks.
He told Sputnik, a Russian news agency, that it is important to consult with his new colleagues of the Joe Biden admiration about the current stance of the bilateral relations between the United States of America (USA) and Russia.
He went on to say that he has not seen his family members for more than a year.
He revealed that he will be in Moscow within a few weeks before the expected summit between Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
On the other hand, US media outlets assured that John Sullivan refused to leave Russia despite the recommendations of the Russian Foreign Minister.
According to "Axios", a US news website, Sullivan informed the Russian officials that he won't leave voluntarily but if they want they could enforce him to go away.
It is worth noting that the USA imposed last Thursday new sanctions on 32 Russian personalities and entities.
Also, Washington decided to ban purchasing directly bonds issued by Russia's Central Bank, the Fund of National Sovereignty, or the Russian Ministry of Finance.
The US assured that it will expel 10 persons from the Russian diplomatic mission.
On its part, Russia declared the same number as the US diplomatic mission in Moscow.
Moscow affirmed that this decision is merely a part of the available capabilities.
Russia's Foreign Minister (FM) Sergey Lavrov said on April 16 that the US Ambassador should head for Washington to conduct consultations there.
Demetri Peskov, the spokesman for the Russian presidency, said that Yuri Ushakov, an assistant of President Putin told Sullivan, Russia's response to US sanctions.
Moscow also announced that it prohibits Russian citizens from working for the US diplomatic missions.
It also imposed sanctions on former and current officials of the US administration.
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