Russia's new ambassador to the US, Alexander Darchiev, will leave for Washington today, TASS reported, citing diplomatic sources, BTA reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Darchiev as ambassador on March 6. Reuters notes that he is a veteran in diplomacy, known in the past for his public criticism of the West.
Until his current appointment, Darchiev headed the North Atlantic Department in the Russian Foreign Ministry. The agreement to appoint a Russian ambassador to the US and an American ambassador to Russia as soon as possible was reached during negotiations between representatives of Moscow and Washington in Riyadh on February 18.
Washington handed Moscow an official note with an agreement on the appointment of Darchiev as ambassador after talks in Istanbul on February 27. This is the result of the renewed dialogue between Russia and the United States on the normalization of relations, which, as Moscow noted, is aimed primarily at restoring the full work of diplomats. The previous Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, ended his mission in October 2024.