US ambassador to Russia ‘is REFUSING to leave Moscow and saying Putin will have to force him out’ as tensions mount
THE American ambassador to Russia is reportedly refusing to leave the country after Russia told him it would be in his best interest to leave following the US expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats.
United States Ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, said he was "advised" by the Kremlin to leave Russia following new sanctions by the Joe Biden administration - but said he won't be leaving any time soon.
The expulsion was just one of a series of sanctions carried out by the Biden Administration in response to Russian interference in the 2020 elections.
Who has been barred from entering Russia?
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland
FBI Director Christopher Wray
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas
Susan Rice, a former U.N. ambassador and now head of the Domestic Policy Council
John Bolton, who was a national security adviser under former President Donald Trump
James Woolsey, a former CIA director
Michael Carvajal, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
When announcing the targeted moves, Biden called them "proportionate" and said he did not want to start a cycle of escalation with the Kremlin.
Biden also said he and Putin were looking to schedule a summer summit to discuss the two countries' interests.
This effort was doubled when National Security advisor Jake Sullivan spoke with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev and said they would keep in touch about the meeting.