RussiaâÂÂs ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, has died at the age of 66, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The ministry said in a statement that he âÂÂpassed away suddenlyâ on Wednesday, just a year and a half after being appointed to the US role.
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Moscow did not provide more details on his death.
Darchiev was an âÂÂoutstanding diplomat, an experienced leader and a kind colleagueâ and worked âÂÂin one of the most critical areas of Russian foreign policyâÂÂ, the ministry said. He was a specialist in Russia-US relations.
He was appointed last March, shortly after US President Donald Trump returned to power, and several years into MoscowâÂÂs full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In 2022, when Russia launched its offensive against Ukraine, Darchiev called the move a âÂÂnecessary measureâÂÂ.
Darchiev was born into the family of a diplomat and minister-counsellor of the Russian Embassy in Hungary, Nikita Ivanovich Darchiev, according to the state-owned TASS news agency.
He first entered diplomatic service in 1992, becoming first secretary and head of the North America department in RussiaâÂÂs Foreign Ministry.
He served as an adviser to the Russian Embassy in the US in 1997 and later took the post of minister-counsellor from 2005 to 2010. He also previously served as RussiaâÂÂs ambassador to Canada between 2014 and 2021.
Darchiev returned to the North America department in the Foreign Ministry as its director in 2010 and later held the post again until last year.