Anatoly Antonov has finished his term as Russia’s ambassador to the US, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. The diplomat is returning to Moscow amid unprecedented tensions between the two nuclear superpowers.
“The Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, has ended his service in Washington and is on his way to Moscow,” the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement carried by Russian news agencies. The ministry did not provide any additional details and has so far not named his successor.
Antonov previously told reporters that it had become increasingly difficult for Russian diplomats to work in the US as bilateral relations were “falling apart.” He said earlier this week that he and his colleagues have been subjected to “threats of physical violence.”
The outspoken envoy was appointed to his position in August 2017 when relations between the countries were already deteriorating due to allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Moscow has denied these claims and accused politicians in Washington of fear-mongering and deliberate attempts to slander Russia.
Relations only went downhill after the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022, with some observers worrying that the tensions could escalate into a full-blown war.
The US and Russia have repeatedly expelled each other’s diplomats in recent years. In 2017, the US ordered the shutdown of the Russian Consulate in San Francisco, as well as the properties of Russia’s trade mission in Washington and New York. Moscow responded by demanding the closure of the American Consulate in St. Petersburg. In 2020, the US suspended the work of two of its remaining consulates in Russia.