Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov said in an interview aired Friday that he could not remember a time when relations between Washington and Moscow were worse than they are right now.
“Today Russia’s responsible for everything, even for bad weather,” Antonov told “Today” following Trump’s expulsion of 60 Russian intelligence officials from the U.S. “It’s high time for us to stop blaming each other. It’s high time for us to start a real conversation about real problems.”
Antonov said it was “impossible to imagine” that the Kremlin was responsible for meddling in the 2016 presidential elections. He also said that Russia had nothing to do with the chemical attacks on ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter on U.K. soil, citing that there was no motive.
[US Consulate orders pizza after Russia orders it shut down]
Despite the continued denial of using chemical weapons, the Trump administration announced the expulsion of 60 Russian intelligence officers from the U.S. and the closing of the consulate in Seattle.
“It seems to me that atmosphere in Washington is poisoned– it’s a toxic atmosphere,” he said. “I don’t remember such bad shape of our relations.”
[Russia’s diplomatic expulsions speak to Vladimir Putin’s fear]
