The Sakhalin region Governor Oleg Kozhemyako was unable to meet with US Ambassador John Huntsman because of a mismatch of schedule. The official told RIA Novosti.
“I deeply respect the desire of the diplomat to visit the region and I sincerely appreciate his desire to see how live regions, including the far East, and always a pleasure, but at the moment the meeting was not held and was not possible because of mismatch schedules. Accordingly, the reason of meeting is not that someone does not want it, but simply in the technical aspects,” said Kozhemyako.
He added that he is ready to meet with the Huntsman at any time. The American diplomat has canceled a trip to the far East on 1 December. He was planning to visit Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, but, as reported in the U.S. Embassy, the regional authorities, including the Governor of the Primorsky Krai and Sakhalin region, refused to meet with him.
Huntsman was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Russia at the end of September, in Moscow, he arrived in early October. His first official visits took place in Yekaterinburg and Saint Petersburg (cities of the U.S. Consulate General).
Background: the Authorities of the Far East refused the US Ambassador in the meeting