Russian Ambassador called US plans to impose new sanctions "the wrong signal"

The new sanctions, which the United States has announced plans to impose, are “not the signal” that Russia received after the summit between President Vladimir Putin and American leader Joe Biden. This was stated by Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov after returning to the United States, RIA Novosti reports.

“It is sad that colleagues are choosing a path that will not lead to a positive result,” the diplomat said. He added that "it is impossible to stabilize relations between the two countries through such measures."

After returning to the United States, Antonov called the restoration of "dialogue mechanisms" his goal. According to him, Russian diplomats in the United States are ready to "correct relations" with the United States.

Antonov returned to the US after three months in Moscow. He flew to the capital in March "for consultations" after the words of Biden, who, in an interview with one of the TV channels, answered in the affirmative to the question whether he considers Putin a "murderer."

The American ambassador to Russia later also returned to Washington. He was advised to go to his country for consultations by presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. He gave such a recommendation against the backdrop of aggravated relations between the countries: in addition to Biden's answer in an interview, this was facilitated by new US sanctions, which, among other things, affected the work of diplomats.

On June 16, Putin and Biden met at a summit in Geneva and agreed to return ambassadors to Moscow and Washington. At the end of that summit, the Russian president said that he was satisfied with Biden's explanation of his "killer" claim.

Four days after the meeting between Putin and Biden, the US announced that it was planning to impose sanctions against Russia. A new package of restrictions is being prepared in connection with the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, as well as against Russian companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, said US national security adviser Jake Sullivan. He explained that Biden, after taking office as president, said he would impose restrictions on Russian companies involved in the project every 90 days. “He (Biden. -) did it and will continue to do it,” Sullivan said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry compared the US plans to introduce new sanctions against Russia with "carousel steeplechase" and promised a "natural response." According to the official representative of the department, Maria Zakharova, “all the fuss around the imaginary poisoning” and its linkage with Nord Stream 2 is needed by the United States “as a tool for solving the problems of its own lack of competitiveness.”