MOSCOW, Russia
Russia’s foreign ministry said on Monday it had summoned US Ambassador John Sullivan to tell him that President Joe Biden’s calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” had pushed bilateral ties to the brink of collapse.
Biden said last week that
Putin was a “war criminal” for sending tens of thousands of troops to invade
Ukraine and targeting civilians.
“Such statements from the
American president, unworthy of a statesman of such high rank, put
Russian-American relations on the verge of rupture,” the ministry said in a
statement.
The Kremlin earlier described
the comments as “personal insults” against Putin.
The ministry also told
Sullivan that hostile actions against Russia would receive a “decisive and firm
response.”
State Department spokesman Ned
Price confirmed that Sullivan met with Russian officials. But he declined to
say whether the U.S. envoy told them that the United States stands behind the
accusation Biden levelled at Putin.
Price told a news briefing
that the United States believes it is important to maintain communication
channels with Russia especially “during times of conflict.”
“We have sought to maintain a
diplomatic presence in Moscow” and the United States wants Russia to keep a
similar presence in Washington, he continued.
Russia’s actions “call into
question whether they, too, welcome these same open lines of communications,”
Price said.
Deputy U.S. Secretary of State
Wendy Sherman, in an interview on MSNBC, said Russia’s reported statement “just
shows how desperate President Putin is becoming.”
Sullivan in the meeting
repeated a demand that the United States be given consular access to American
citizens detained in Russia, including those in pretrial detention, Price said.
He said Russia has barred US diplomats
from meeting those Americans for months in violation of international law.
Russia has detained at least
three Americans, including WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was arrested earlier
this month at a Moscow-area airport and accused of transporting drugs.
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