Russia recalls ambassador after Joe Biden’s 'killer' Putin will 'pay the price' remark

Moscow: Russia is recalling its ambassador to the United States for consultations, the foreign ministry said without getting into the details. The order came after US president Joe Biden, In an interview with ABC News, described Vladimir Putin as a “killer” who would “pay a price” for meddling in the US election. 

The move on Wednesday (March 17), to bring Anatoly Antonov to Moscow, comes to diffuse the rising tensions with President Joe Biden's administration. The newly formed Biden’s administration has imposed sanctions over the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is now in prison.

When asked in the interview whether he (Biden) thought Putin is a killer and the US president said "I do."

"(Putin) will pay a price," Biden said, asked about the declassified report.

Biden also disclosed in the ABC interview that he had a “long talk” with Russian leader Putin after taking office in January.

“The conversation started off, I said, ‘I know you and you know me. If I establish this occurred, then be prepared’,” Biden said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova gave a glimpse of the reason for the return of Russiam ambassador to US. While not citing any specific reasons, she said that relations "are in a difficult state, which Washington has brought to a dead end in recent years."

"We are interested in preventing their irreversible degradation, if the Americans are aware of the associated risks," she added.

"We will be direct, we will speak out on areas where we have concerns, and it will certainly be, as the president said last night ? certainly, the Russians will be held accountable for the actions that they have taken," said Jen Psaki, White House spokeswoman. 

Live TV