US ambassador to Russia is back at his post

U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan is returning to his post after leaving in April due to increased tensions between the countries. 

“Arrived back in Moscow today. Ready to work with the @USEmbRu team toward progress on U.S. foreign policy priorities, and with #Russia on our goal of a stable and predictable relationship between our countries,” Sullivan said when he arrived in Russia on Thursday. 

Ambassador Sullivan: “Arrived back in Moscow today. Ready to work with the @USEmbRu team toward progress on U.S. foreign policy priorities, and with #Russia on our goal of a stable and predictable relationship between our countries.” pic.twitter.com/4rfNtV7wsY

— Jason P. Rebholz (@USEmbRuPress) June 24, 2021

President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during their face-to-face meeting in Geneva earlier this month to send their ambassadors back to their posts.

“We agreed that they would return to their service,” Putin said after the meeting, which lasted more than three hours. 

Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov was called back to his country after Biden said that Putin was a “killer” in March.

The U.S. brought Sullivan back in April due to the rising tensions between the countries. 

The relationship has remained strained between Russia and the U.S. after America discovered earlier this year that several cyberattacks on the country’s infrastructure were perpetrated by Russian hackers. 

Russia also ramped up its military presence on the border of Ukraine, a move that alarmed the United States and NATO allies. 

“It was important to meet in person so there could be no mistake about or misrepresentations about what I wanted to communicate. I did what I came to do,” Biden said after his meeting with Putin.