Russia claims US has approved appointment of new Russian ambassador

The Russian Foreign Ministry has announced that Russia received agrément for the appointment of Alexander Darchiyev as ambassador to the United States.

The statement says that during consultations between Russian and US delegations on 27 February in Istanbul, the American side "delivered an official note granting agrément for the appointment of Darchiyev, the Director of the North Atlantic Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the United States of America".

The ministry stated that his departure for Washington is expected in the near future.

Darchiyev has spent a total of approximately 10 years working at Russia’s diplomatic mission in Washington. From 1997 to 2002, he served as an embassy counsellor, and from 2005 to 2010, he held the position of minister-counsellor.

Darchiyev was Russia’s ambassador to Canada from October 2014 to January 2021. He has served as director of the North Atlantic Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry since January 2021.

The US Department of State previously stated that following a meeting with Russian representatives in Istanbul on 17 February, both sides had outlined specific initial steps to stabilise the operations of their diplomatic missions.

The talks in Istanbul followed a meeting between the US and Russian delegations on 18 February in Saudi Arabia, which was not attended by Ukraine.

After the negotiations in Saudi Arabia, the US Department of State said that the delegations agreed to "address the irritants" to the bilateral relationship and continue preparing talks on Russia's war against Ukraine.