The prospects for the return of the ambassadors of Russia and the United States to serve in the capitals immediately after the meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden are great, said Boris Mezhuev, a Russian political scientist, associate professor of the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow State University.
The Russia-US summit is scheduled for June 16 in Geneva.
“I think maybe the first question that will be raised during the meeting is the resumption of the diplomatic mission (ambassadors). I think it will be decided right there and right away. There are quite big prospects in this regard – the return of ambassadors”, – Mezhuev told RIA Novosti.
He noted that the parties can also agree on the return of diplomatic property to Russia, if the conversation does not take on a “completely hostile character”, in which there will be no common points of contact.
However, the expert is sure that the parties will try to avoid the impression that there is a “big impasse” in Russian-American relations. On April 15, the United States introduced new sanctions against the Russian Federation; 32 individuals and associations were affected by them. The sanctions also prohibit US financial institutions from buying Russian government bonds on IPOs after June 14. In addition, Washington announced that it was expelling 10 Russian diplomatic personnel from the country. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the US sanctions course does not meet the interests of the peoples of the two countries.
Russia’s response to US sanctions includes both mirrored and asymmetric measures. In particular, Moscow decided to declare 10 American diplomats persona non grata, they were given time to leave Russia until the end of the day on May 21.
In addition, US Ambassador John Sullivan was asked to travel to Washington for consultations, where he left at the end of April. A month earlier, Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov left the United States for Russia. So far, the Russian Foreign Ministry is not ready to predict even the approximate dates of his return to Washington.