Russia has recalled its Washington ambassador for talks to prevent the “irreversible deterioration” of relations with the US.
The Russian government said Anatoly Antonov had been called back to Moscow as US ties had reached a “blind alley”.
The move came after President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin would “pay the price” for alleged election meddling.
Mr Biden had been commenting on an American intelligence report that suggested Mr Putin had authorised an interference campaign in last November’s presidential election in the US.
The report accused Russia of trying to sway the election in favour of former Republican President Donald Trump, who was defeated by Mr Biden, a Democrat.
“Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has been summoned to Moscow for consultations in order to analyse what needs to be done in the context of relations with the United States,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Russia, it added, was interested in “preventing an irreversible deterioration in relations”.
“The most important thing for us is to identify ways of rectifying Russia-US relations, which have been going through hard times as Washington has, as a matter of fact, brought them to a blind alley,” it said.
Mr Biden told ABC he had warned Mr Putin about a potential response to alleged election meddling during a call in late January.
Asked what the consequences would be, he said: “You’ll see shortly.”
When asked if he thought Mr Putin was “a killer”, President Biden said “I do”.
BBC
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