Azerbaijan, Baku, May 14 / Trend V. Zhavoronkova /
The U.S. embassy to Azerbaijan waits for approval of new ambassador by Senate, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in Azerbaijan Adam Sterling told journalists on Monday.
According to Sterling, President Obama nominated Ambassador Richard Mornigstar several weeks ago to be a new U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan under the U.S. constitution, and the Senate now should approve him," he said.
"The next step is that Senate Foreign Relations Committee has to schedule a hearing for ambassador Morningstar and we are waiting this to take place," he said.
Sterling stressed that there are no rule that dictate how fast the Senate has to work.
"So it is really very hard to predict when the ambassador will come and we hope this will go very fast and we will see him (ambassador) very soon," he said.
The U.S. has no ambassador to Azerbaijan since former U.S. ambassador Matthew Bryza ended his mission in the country in late December.
The U.S. President Barack Obama appointed a career diplomat, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary Matthew Bryza as ambassador to Azerbaijan bypass the Senate on Dec.29, 2010, which a few months blocked his nomination under pressure of pro-Armenian senators Barbara Boxer and Robert Menendez.