US President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate current US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy as Washington’s next envoy to Russia, the White House said in a statement, Trend reports citing TASS.
"Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate <�…> Lynne M. Tracy, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Russian Federation," the document says.
According to the document, prior to her appointment as US ambassador to Armenia, Tracy was the Senior Adviser for Russia in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and, before that, the Deputy Chief of Mission at US Embassy in Moscow, Russia (2014-2017).
Earlier, Tracy served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central Asia in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs and as Director for Central Asia at the National Security Council. The Department of State noted that she speaks Russian.
Tracy, who has headed the US diplomatic mission to Armenia since 2019, will become the first female US Ambassador to Russia if her candidacy is approved.
At present, the post of US ambassador to Russia is vacant, following the departure of John Sullivan, 62, from Moscow on September 4. He was appointed by former US President Donald Trump, a Republican, in December 2019.
Last week, CNN reported with reference to own sources, that US President Joe Biden plans to nominate the current head of the US diplomatic mission in Armenia, Lynne Tracy, to the post of ambassador to Russia. According to the channel, the Biden administration hopes that the US Senate will quickly approve Tracy's nomination and that she will soon be able to start working in Moscow. It is noted that the US authorities have already sent a corresponding request to the Russian Federation for approval.