“US-Russian relations were bad when I got here in January 2020,” and “they’ve just gotten worse, they’ve been down since then,” he said. In an interview with Alisyn Camerota from Moscow on the CNN Newsroom, Sullivan said there was “very little commitment to the Russian government” and that his communications focused on detained American citizens and “the operation of our embassy.” under strict restrictions imposed by the Russian government. On Wednesday, American Trevor Reed was released from Russian custody in a prisoner exchange – a major development in which Sullivan was a key player. However, other Americans remain in custody, including Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, the latter of whom he asked why he was “left behind”. “for a fictitious espionage charge for 40 months,” Whelan said in a statement to his parents and shared with CNN. “People know this charge was fabricated. Why not do more to secure my release?” Sullivan told CNN that he “could not agree more with Paul in the sense that he has been convicted of a fabricated charge.” “I supported his release so publicly in the negotiations with the Russian government before I came here as ambassador, when I was deputy foreign minister when Paul was first arrested in December 2018,” he said. “I have never backed down from my advocacy for Paul in relation to the Russian government, for Paul’s release,” Sullivan added, adding that “this case, the Trevor case, is only one step away.” Regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine, Sullivan suggested that it was up to one man – Russian President Vladimir Putin – to end the brutal conflict. “This war started with a decision by President Putin; this war will end with a decision by President Putin,” he said, adding that the United States “will do everything it can to ensure that this decision is a strategic defeat.” for him and his government, not a victory for him in Ukraine. “ The US ambassador said rhetoric about Russia’s possible use of nuclear weapons had escalated in a “dramatically irresponsible way recently”, but noted that “it is not new”, citing pre-war talks that would “come” in the face of fierce warnings. The US and NATO continued to support Ukraine. “And my reaction on the other side of the table is surprising,” Sullivan said. “And unfortunately, what we have seen most recently is, at the highest levels of the US government, an escalation of this rhetoric.” Sullivan said the United States had begun to respond, noting that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had stopped and then canceled a missile test despite the Russian government’s pre-planning and warning. “We are not engaging in irresponsible nuclear weapons rhetoric,” Sullivan told CNN. The United States is “ready to prevent a nuclear attack on the United States,” he added. “We will not succumb to nuclear blackmail, but we will not tolerate the cracking of nuclear swords and nuclear harassment,” he said.
