US envoy to Russia returns to Moscow

US envoy in Moscow returned to Russia on Thursday and said that he was ready to work on "stable and predictable relationship" after a summit between US and Russia aimed at reducing tensions.

"Arrived back in Moscow today," Ambassador John Sullivan said in a statement, several days after Russia's envoy to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, resumed his own posting, saying he hoped to build "equal and pragmatic ties".

Sullivan said he was ready to work with Russia "on our goal of a stable and predictable relationship between our countries."

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Russian President Vladimir Putin last week said that both, Russia and the US had agreed for the respective ambassadors to return to their posts. Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden and Putin held summit talks in Geneva.

In March, Russia had recalled Antonov and recommended the United States bring back Sullivan for consultations after Biden agreed with a description of Putin as a "killer".

Sullivan departed Moscow for Washington the next month, as the US and Russia announced a series of tit-for-tat sanctions and expulsions of diplomats.

Diplomatic relations between Moscow and Washington had all but broken down after Biden took office and accused the Kremlin of interfering in US elections and launching cyberattacks.

In May, Russia formally designated the United States an "unfriendly" state, barring its embassy from employing Russian nationals. The only other country on that list is the Czech Republic.

(With agency inputs)