Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, has died suddenly at the age of 66, Moscow’s Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday, 11 November.
The ministry said Darchiev “passed away suddenly” and described him as an “outstanding diplomat, an experienced leader and a kind colleague”. It did not give a cause of death or say where he died.
01. Who was Alexander Darchiev?
Darchiev was a career diplomat and a specialist in Russia-US relations. He served as director of the Foreign Ministry’s North America department from 2014 to 2020, and then as Russia’s ambassador to Canada from 2021 to 2024.
President Vladimir Putin appointed him ambassador to Washington on 6 March 2025, succeeding Anatoly Antonov. He had held the post for about a year and a half.
He took up the role shortly after Donald Trump returned to the White House, and was tasked with leading a rapprochement between Moscow and Washington after years of strained relations over the war in Ukraine.
02. What happens next
The ministry said it would share further details later. No successor has been named yet.
The announcement came on the same day US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were due to travel to Moscow, after two days of US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi ended with a deal on a large prisoner exchange.
Darchiev was born in 1960. The Foreign Ministry said he died “in his 67th year”.
