Russian envoy to U.S. returns to Washington with optimistic mindset -RIA

FILE PHOTO: A guard screens cars entering the Russian embassy on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, U.S. December 29, 2016. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, was in an optimistic mood ahead of his return to Washington on Sunday, expecting meetings scheduled with U.S. colleagues next week to be constructive, the RIA news agency reported.

President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden agreed to return their respective ambassadors to Washington and Moscow during talks in Geneva on Wednesday, a first summit between the two that they both described as pragmatic rather than friendly.