Recalled ambassador arrives in Russia after Biden calls Putin a ‘killer’: report

Russia’s ambassador to the United States arrived back in his home country on Sunday after being recalled to Moscow for talks with Kremlin leadership after President Biden labeled Russian President Vladimir Putin a “killer.”

TASS News Agency reported that Anatoly Antonov landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on Sunday. Antonov’s return comes days after the foreign ministry warned against an “irreversible deterioration of relations” between the U.S. and Russia.

The move was sparked by remarks made by Biden during an ABC News interview, during which the president called his Russian counterpart a “killer” and vowed that the country would “pay a price” for meddling in the 2020 election, a finding announced by the U.S. intelligence community.

“Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has been summoned to Moscow for consultations in order to analyze what needs to be done in the context of relations with the United States,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement last week.

“The most important thing for us is to identify ways of rectifying Russia-US relations, which have been going through hard times as Washington has, as a matter of fact, brought them to a blind alley. We are interested in preventing an irreversible deterioration in relations, if the Americans become aware of the risks associated with this,” it continued.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated that Russia would face consequences during a press briefing last week.

“Our administration is going to take a different approach in our relationship to Russia than the prior administration,” she said on Wednesday.