The Russian ambassador to the US has died. Aleksandr Darchiev was 66 years old

"The management and employees of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs inform with deep regret that on November 11, at the age of 67, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the United States, Aleksandr Nikitich Darchiev, died prematurely," it was written in a short statement.

Darchiev, who was previously director of the North America Department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, became ambassador to the US in March 2025. Previously, he was, among others, Russian ambassador to Canada.

The Moscow Times website reports - citing Boris Bondarev, a former Russian diplomat in Geneva who publicly resigned in protest against the invasion of Ukraine - that Darchiev was a protégé of President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov.

At the time of his nomination, experts assessed that Darchiev was unlikely to have a significant impact on relations between Russia and the US, because in recent years most important issues were resolved by Moscow and Washington at a higher level.