You can never have too much good news: Putin's ambassador to Washington has died

The Russian foreign ministry announced on Wednesday that Alexander Darchiev, Russia's ambassador to Washington, had died unexpectedly at the age of 66. The ministry called him an outstanding diplomat, an experienced leader, a good friend and a mentor — four epithets for the tribute, and just one for the news of his death: sudden. Where and when he died, and what caused his death, the statement does not say. According to the Moscow Times, as of Wednesday evening neither the Kremlin nor Washington had commented.

Darchiev replaced Anatoly Antonov in Washington in March 2025, just as Moscow, with Donald Trump's return, once again saw it worthwhile to pick up the phone when the White House called. The ambassador knew the terrain: he had previously served at the embassy in Washington, was ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2021, then spent four years heading the North American department of the Russian foreign ministry, and was part of Putin's delegation at the Alaska summit with Trump. Boris Bondarev, who left Russian diplomacy over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, described him as a protégé of Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser. Even so, at the time of his appointment few expected him to wield much independent influence, since whatever Moscow and Washington really wanted to settle was handled directly by the Kremlin and the White House.

The news of his death came right in the middle of the Russian–Ukrainian talks held in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11 with American mediation. Moscow has not yet said who will run the Washington embassy in the meantime, or who will be sent to replace Darchiev. In any case, his successor will have time to learn when a Russian diplomat is supposed to speak up. And from the farewell statement, he already knows just how much to say.

Ugar