Putin appoints official from EU sanction list as Russian ambassador to USA
Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Anatoly Antonov, who has been on the EU sanction list since 2015, as the Russian ambassador to the US.
Between 2011 and 2016, Antonov worked as the Russian Deputy Defense Minister, and since 2015 he has been on the EU sanction list because of aggression against Ukraine. Antonov has been appointed instead of Sergey Kislyak, who was one of the central figures in the scandal surrounding a possible conspiracy between US President Donald Trump and the Kremlin.
Kislyak ceased his work as Russian ambassador to the US on July 23. Before this, US Attorney General Jefferson Sessions said that he does not intend to resign, following reports that he had discussed details of Trump’s electoral campaign with the Russian ambassador.
It is assumed that in his reports to Moscow, Kislyak reported on discussions with Sessions regarding Trump’s electoral campaign in 2016. Notably, US intelligence intercepted Kislyak’s report. According to US intelligence, Kislyak and Sessions had “significant” discussions about Trump’s position towards Russia and prospective US-Russian relations after Trump’s victory in the elections.