Putin signs decree appointing Alexander Darchiev as Russia’s ambassador to US

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a decree appointing Alexander Darchiev, the Foreign Ministry's North Atlantic Department chief, as Moscow's ambassador to Washington.

The decree, published on the government portal's website, confirmed the head of Russia's diplomatic mission in the US almost five months after Darchiev's predecessor Anatoly Antonov completed his mission in Washington, DC in October 2024.

On Feb. 28, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Washington, during talks held in Istanbul on normalizing diplomatic relations, handed over an official note to Moscow on Darchiev's appointment as Russia's ambassador to the US.

"His departure to his place of service in Washington is expected in the near future," the statement said.

A former researcher specializing in North American studies, focusing on both Canada and the US, Darchiev, 64, comes from an academic background.

Fluent in English and French, Darchiev has been serving in Russia's diplomatic corps since 1992, with a significant part of his career -- some 10 years -- in the US and Canada, where he held various positions, including adviser and minister-counselor at the Russian Embassy.

From Oct. 24, 2014, to Jan. 11, 2021, he served as Russia's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Canada.

He then returned to Moscow to assume the role of the director of the North Atlantic Department, where he served until his recent appointment.