Russia Recalls its US Ambassador for Consultations after Biden Comment on Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with participants of the We Are Together nationwide volunteer campaign at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 4, 2021. (Kremlin via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with participants of the We Are Together nationwide volunteer campaign at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 4, 2021. (Kremlin via Reuters)
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Russia Recalls its US Ambassador for Consultations after Biden Comment on Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with participants of the We Are Together nationwide volunteer campaign at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 4, 2021. (Kremlin via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with participants of the We Are Together nationwide volunteer campaign at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 4, 2021. (Kremlin via Reuters)

Russia on Wednesday called its ambassador to the United States back to Moscow for consultations on the future of US-Russia ties after US President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin would "pay a price" for alleged election meddling.

Biden made his comments after a US intelligence report supported longstanding allegations that Putin was behind Moscow's election interference in the United States, an accusation Russia called baseless.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had called its ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, back to Moscow to discuss the future of Russia's relationship with the United States.

The move was designed to ensure bilateral ties did not degrade irreparably, it said.

"The main thing for us is to determine the ways in which the difficult Russian-American relations that Washington has led into a dead end in recent years could be rectified," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on its website.

"We are interested in preventing their irreversible degradation if the Americans recognize the risks involved."



Russia: Hypersonic Missile Strike on Ukraine Was a Warning to 'Reckless' West

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
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Russia: Hypersonic Missile Strike on Ukraine Was a Warning to 'Reckless' West

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS

The Kremlin said on Friday that a strike on Ukraine using a newly developed hypersonic ballistic missile was designed as a message to the West that Moscow will respond to their "reckless" decisions and actions in support of Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking a day after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had fired the new missile - the Oreshnik or Hazel Tree - at a Ukrainian military facility.
"The main message is that the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries that produce missiles, supply them to Ukraine and subsequently participate in strikes on Russian territory cannot remain without a reaction from the Russian side," Peskov told reporters.
"The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities, and the contours of further retaliatory actions in the event that our concerns are not taken into account have been quite clearly outlined,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
Peskov said Russia had not been obliged to warn the United States about the strike, but had informed the US 30 minutes before the launch anyway.
President Vladimir Putin remained open to dialogue, Peskov said, but he said the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden "prefers to continue down the path of escalation".
Putin said on Thursday that Russia had fired the new missile after Ukraine, with approval from the Biden administration, struck Russia with six US-made ATACMS missiles on Tuesday and with British Storm Shadow cruise missiles and US-made HIMARS on Thursday.
He said this meant that the Ukraine war had now "acquired elements of a global character".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Russia's use of the new missile amounted to "a clear and severe escalation" in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.