**ISTANBUL**
Russia’s new ambassador to the US arrived in Washington, DC, Russian state media reported Wednesday.
State news agency TASS reported the arrival of Alexander Darchiev to the US, citing sources, five months after his predecessor Anatoly Antonov completed his mission.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in early March appointing Darchiev as the country’s ambassador to the US.
A former researcher specializing in North American studies, Darchiev, 64, comes from an academic background.
Fluent in English and French, he has been serving in Russia’s diplomatic corps since 1992, with a significant part of his career in the US and Canada, where he held various positions, including adviser and minister-counselor at the Russian Embassy.
From Oct. 24, 2014 to Jan. 11, 2021, he served as Russia's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Canada.
He then returned to Moscow to assume the role of the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s North Atlantic Department, where he served until his recent appointment.
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