Russia’s Ambassador to the U.S., Alexander Darchiev, Dies at 66
Alexander Darchiev, Russia's ambassador to Washington since March 2025, died in Moscow on November 11 after a chronic illness, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. He was 66.
Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, died in Moscow on Wednesday at 66, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said he died after a chronic illness. The ministry’s statement said he “passed away suddenly” and called him an “exceptional professional.”
A career spent on U.S. relations
Darchiev had served as ambassador to Washington since March 2025, when President Vladimir Putin appointed him to lead a rapprochement with the Trump administration. He succeeded Anatoly Antonov, who left the post in late 2024. Before Washington, he headed the Foreign Ministry’s North Atlantic Department and served as Russia’s ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2021.
His time in Washington coincided with a thaw in U.S.-Russia relations, as President Donald Trump opened bilateral talks with Moscow and scaled back aid to Ukraine, according to CNN. A U.S. State Department spokesperson told CNN the department was aware of Darchiev’s death and offered condolences to his family.
Darchiev was known for blunt public criticism of the West. In December 2022, he told the Russian state news outlet TASS that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was a “necessary measure” that stopped what he described as a de facto genocide against Russians in former Ukrainian territories, a claim CNN described as unevidenced.
The ministry said it extended condolences to Darchiev’s family. It did not name a successor to lead the embassy in Washington.
Reporting based on coverage by CNN and Reuters.
