U.S. media are reporting that President Joe Biden has decided to nominate Lynne Tracy, a veteran Foreign Service officer with years of experience in Russian affairs, as U.S. ambassador to Russia.
Several major media outlets, including CNN, AP, and Reuters, quoted sources as saying the proposal will be put to the Senate once Russia signs off on it, as is standard diplomatic protocol.
Neither the White House nor the State Department have commented on the reports.
The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted the Kremlin as saying on September 15 that it had “hardly any hope” for relations to improve under the new ambassador.
If approved, Tracy, currently the U.S. ambassador to Armenia who also served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from 2014 to 2017, would replace John Sullivan, who finished his tenure on September 4 amid rising bilateral tensions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The United States has been a leading voice in the NATO campaign to give weapons to Ukraine to help it repel Russian forces after they invaded the country on February 24.
The two countries have also locked horns over the detention of several Americans that Washington says are being unjustly held in Russian prisons. Most notable among those detained are basketball player Britney Griner, civilian contractor Paul Whelan, and teacher Marc Fogel.
Last month, Russia said it was ready for talks on a possible prisoner swap through an existing diplomatic channel agreed to by Biden and President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Geneva in June 2021.
