U.S. ambassador to Belarus Karen Stewart said Tuesday she has no immediate plan to return to Belarus and is not sure whether she would be allowed to, the AP reported.
Stewart said she returned to Washington after the government of Belarus threatened to expel her in retaliation for U.S. sanctions, according to the report.
"I was not expelled, but they made it clear that that would be the next step if I did not leave," Stewart said in an interview.
The United States said Monday Stewart would return to Belarus soon and it did not expect to cut relations with Belarus.
"We've had some interesting relations with Belarus in recent weeks, and certainly have our ambassador, now, out of the country temporarily, and expect her to got back shortly," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.
Casey said he did not know when the ambassador would schedule her return to Belarus.
Belarus asked Stewart to leave the country earlier this month and recalled its envoy to the United States.
According to the Foreign Ministry of Belarus, the moves have been taken to retaliate against Washington's new sanctions on Belarus' national oil products firm Belneftekhim last year.
Bilateral ties between the United States and Belarus have been chilly.
Source:Xinhua
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