Kremlin "doesn't send special envoy to Trump's inauguration"

Russia will not send a special envoy to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20 next year, the Kremlin said on the 27th local time.

"There is absolutely no provision in the U.S. that allows foreign delegations to be invited to the inauguration except for ambassadors approved in the U.S.," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said, according to TASS, adding that the envoy is not attending Trump's inauguration.

Ushakov, who served as Russian ambassador to the U.S. from 1998 to 2008, explained, "If someone says 'I'm going to the inauguration,' it means I'm not going to the inauguration itself, but to various protocol events related to the inauguration."

The post of Russian ambassador to the United States is currently vacant.

Former ambassador Anatolyn Antonov, who has been ambassador to the U.S. since 2017, returned to office last month, but no successor has been appointed.

In response to reports that Aleksandr Darchiev, director of the North American Affairs Bureau at the Foreign Ministry, was appointed as ambassador to the United States, Ushakov said the previous day that "the candidate for ambassador to the United States is being coordinated between departments" and that the announcement will be made after approval by relevant ministries, the Russian president and the United States.