Russia recalls envoy after Biden says 'killer' Putin will 'pay the price'

Russia called its U.S. ambassador back to Moscow for consultations on March 17 after Joe Biden described Vladimir Putin as a "killer" who would "pay a price" for election meddling, prompting the first major diplomatic crisis for the new American president.

In an interview with ABC News, Biden was asked about a U.S. intelligence report that the Russian leader tried to harm his candidacy in the November 2020 election and promote that of Donald Trump.

"He will pay a price," the 78-year-old Biden said.

Asked if he thought Putin, who has been accused of ordering the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and other rivals, is a "killer," Biden said: "I do."

The comments were aired as the U.S. Commerce Department announced it was toughening export restrictions imposed on Russia as punishment for Navalny's poisoning.

Russia responded by summoning its envoy home, though the State Department did not reciprocate by recalling its own ambassador to Moscow.

"The Russian ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov, has been invited to come to Moscow for consultations conducted with the aim of analyzing what should be done and where to go in the context of ties with the United States," the Russian foreign ministry said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told RIA Novosti that "responsibility for further deterioration of Russian-American ties fully rests with the United States."

In Washington, the State Department noted the Russian move and said the United States will "remain clear-eyed about the challenges that Russia poses."

A State Department spokeswoman told AFP the U.S. envoy would remain in Moscow in the hopes of maintaining "open channels of communication" and in order to "reduce the risk of...