Building relationships: Alexander Darchiev will become Russia's Ambassador to the United States

The United States has issued an agrement for the appointment of Alexander Darchiev, director of the North Atlantic Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, as the new Russian ambassador to Washington. This was announced on February 28 by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For more information about the diplomat's biography and relations between Russia and the United States, see the Izvestia article.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the issuance of an agreman to the United States for the appointment of a new Russian ambassador

The USA has issued agreman (prior consent) to appoint Alexander Darchiev, Director of the North Atlantic Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, as the new Russian ambassador to Washington. This was announced on February 28 by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The American side has sent an official note with an agrement for the appointment of <...> Darchiev as the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the United States," reads the publications on the website.

The note was handed over during negotiations between the Russian and American delegations in Istanbul on the normalization of the functioning of the diplomatic missions of the two countries, which took place on February 27. It is noted that Alexander Darchiev's departure to Washington is expected in the near future.

As Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, has already noted, Agreman testifies to the consistency of the American side in implementing the Riyadh agreements, as well as the return to normal functioning of diplomatic missions between Moscow and Washington.

«<...And this is an important part of establishing a dialogue. The "diplomatic war" launched by Obama in 2014 is ending," Slutsky said.

In addition, he called Darchiev a true professional and an extremely experienced diplomat.

Alexander Darchiev: what is known about the new after Russia in the USA

Alexander Darchiev, the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the United States of America, was born in 1960. In 1983, he graduated from the Faculty of History of Lomonosov Moscow State University. He holds a PhD in Historical Sciences.

Alexander Darchiev has been engaged in diplomacy since 1992. To date, he has held a number of positions, including:

— Deputy Director of the Department of North America (2003-2005);

— Minister Counselor of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the USA (2005-2010);

— Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Canada (2014-2021);

— Director of the North America Department (2010-2014 and 2021-2025).

In 2025, he became the head of the North Atlantic Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, USA).

Since 2016, Alexander Darchiev has held the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

In 2019, he was awarded the Order of Friendship, and in 2022, the Order of Honor. Speaks English and French.

In in an interview with TASS Darchiev listed the conditions for starting negotiations with Ukraine and the West. According to him, we are talking about stopping the supply of weapons to Kiev, the withdrawal of Western military personnel, mercenaries and instructors from Ukrainian territory, as well as the recognition of "realities on the ground" determined by Russia.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov drew attention to the professionalism of the new ambassador to Washington and said that his candidacy had received approval from the United States. "The Americans, by the way..."They said that they welcome the appointment of a professional who has devoted most of his career to Soviet-American, Russian-American relations," the minister said.

In turn, the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Ryabkov, in an interview with TASS, noted that Darchiev, in his new position, faces the task of normalizing bilateral relations. "We are talking about a very famous diplomat, very experienced. That is, in my opinion, there can be no doubt that he will carry out work there that is highly professional and aimed at at least a relative normalization of bilateral relations, including from the host country, Washington," he stressed.

Who was previously the Russian ambassador to the United States

The previous Russian ambassador to the United States was Anatoly Antonov. He held this position from 2017 to 2024. On October 10 last year, a decree on Antonov's resignation appeared on the website of the official publication of legal acts. The document was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Since then, this position has remained vacant. Lynn Tracy has been the American ambassador to Moscow since 2023.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that "during the period of Antonov's work, there was a "major flurry of destructive actions by the American administration in the field of bilateral relations, which then transformed into hybrid aggression against our country." Scott Ritter, a former intelligence officer of the US Armed Forces, noted in his account on the social network X that Antonov was one of the few diplomats seeking to improve relations between the countries.