Russian President Vladimir Putin freed Anatoly Antonov from the duties of Russia’s ambassador to the United States. The corresponding decree of the President of the Russian Federation is published on the official portal of legal information.
“To free Anatolia Ivanovich Antonov from the duties of the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the United States of America and the permanent observer of the Russian Federation when organizing American states in Washington,” the document says.
Earlier, on October 5, the US Embassy reported the end of the mission in Washington. The next day, the diplomat returned to Moscow. Antonov was appointed Russian ambassador to the United States in August 2017.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the return to Russia Anatoly Antonov does not mean a decrease in Russia’s diplomatic mission in the United States.
According to him, the ambassador to the United States “will be appointed in a timely manner.”