Russia's Foreign Ministry has clarified why an aircraft from Russia's Rossiya special flight squadron spent two days in the US. As per Flight Radar data, a plane from President Vladimir Putin's Presidential fleet was spotted in New York and Washington last week.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the plane was sent to the US to deliver Russian diplomats as part of a scheduled rotation procedure. The Russian plane's arrival on US soil comes as talks to iron out a deal between President-Elect Donald Trump and Putin gain pace. This triggered speculation online about the flight’s purpose and whether it could be connected to potential talks between Moscow and Washington.
According to the FlightRadar data, an Il-96 with the Rossiya Special Flight Squadron departed from Moscow to St Petersburg on December 25. It arrived in St Petersburg on December 26 before flying to New York. From New York, the plane left for Washington DC. On December 28, the Il-96 left Washington for New York, before flying back to Moscow.
The Rossiya Special Flight Squadron is responsible for transporting Putin and "the country's top officials," according to Russian state media. This is the second time that the squadron’s planes were deployed this year, when Russia and the US exchanged a total of 26 individuals held in several countries, in the largest prisoner swap of its kind since the Cold War.
Russia’s ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov finished his term last October and the new ambassador has not yet taken charge. Antonov has returned to Moscow and Russian media reported that the post would be held by Russia's former envoy to Canada Aleksandr Darchiev.
The Foreign Ministry has not specified when the new ambassador will arrive in Washington. Last week, Zakharova said the new envoy was still in Moscow.
The diplomatic relations between both countries worsened after the Ukraine war. Even before that, the relations between the countries were fraught with trouble. In 2017, the US ordered the shutdown of the Russian Consulate in San Francisco, as well as the properties of Russia’s trade mission in Washington and New York. Moscow has responded by demanding the closure of the American Consulate in St. Petersburg.
