MOSCOW (The Thursday Times) — Alexander Darchiev, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, has died “suddenly” at the age of 66, the Russian foreign ministry announced on Wednesday, about a year and a half after he took up the post in Washington.
The ministry did not give a cause of death. In a brief statement, it described Darchiev as “an outstanding diplomat, an experienced leader and a kind colleague” and a brilliant expert on American affairs, and extended its condolences to his family.
The Kremlin did not comment immediately, and there was no word from US officials.
A specialist in North America
Darchiev spent most of his career on relations with the United States and Canada. He served at the Russian embassy in Washington in the late 2000s, later spent several years as Russia’s ambassador to Canada, and headed the foreign ministry’s North America department in Moscow before his appointment to Washington.
He was named ambassador in March 2025, replacing Anatoly Antonov, shortly after President Donald Trump returned to the White House and reopened direct contacts with Moscow. His arrival came as the two governments began talks on restoring the normal work of their embassies, which had been cut back sharply by years of expulsions and sanctions.
In 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Darchiev defended it as a “necessary measure”.
Death comes as peace talks move
News of his death came on the same day that US-mediated talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations ended in Abu Dhabi with an agreement in principle on a large prisoner exchange, though without a breakthrough on ending the war.
Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoys, are due in Moscow on Thursday to meet President Vladimir Putin. Most of the major issues between the two capitals have been handled at that level, over the heads of the embassies, during Darchiev’s time in Washington.
The foreign ministry did not say who would run the embassy in the interim.
