Russia has recalled Anatoly Antonov, its United States ambassador, for “consultations” the foreign ministry said without cause Wednesday.
According to the Associated Press, “Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova did not cite specific reasons for Antonov’s return but said that relations ‘are in a difficult state, which Washington has brought to a dead end in recent years.'”
“We are interested in preventing their irreversible degradation, if the Americans are aware of the associated risks,” she added.
The recall comes amid President Biden calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “killer” when asked of his Russian counterpart by George Stephanopoulos Tuesday evening.
“Putin authored operations to denigrate you and support President Trump, undermine our elections, divide our society. What price must he pay?” Stephanopoulos asked.
Biden responded, “He will pay a price. We had a long talk. I know him relatively well. And the conversation started off, I said, ‘I know you and you know me…”
Stephanopoulos pressed, “So you know Vladimir Putin, you think he’s a killer?”
Biden nodded, “I do.”
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report Tuesday assessing foreign threats to the 2020 U.S. federal elections. The report accused Russia of “denigrating President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party, supporting President Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process, and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the U.S.”