State Department spokesman Ned Price on January 6 said that the new US ambassador to Russia, Lynn Tracy, intends to work with the Russian authorities on the possibility of resuming the issuance of visas in Moscow.
“Ambassador Tracy is committed to working to increase the embassy’s staffing to ensure that our legation can resume basic functions, including potentially visa issuance,” Price said during the briefing.
He believes that such an outcome would be in the interests of both Russia and the United States.
Earlier, on Jan. 3, Price revealed that Tracy would begin his duties in the coming days. According to him, Washington considers it necessary to maintain a bilateral dialogue between Russia and the United States, especially in a period of geopolitical tension.
The Senate of the US Congress approved Tracy for the post of US Ambassador to Russia on December 21. At the same time, the US Republican Senator Rand Paul called this decision erroneous. In his opinion, it is wrong to send a diplomat to the Russian Federation who advocates the accession of Ukraine and Georgia to NATO.
Meanwhile, on December 23, Alexander Darchiev, director of the North American Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, recommended that the new ambassador refrain from interfering in Moscow’s internal affairs. In addition, he said that in any case, Russia and the United States will have to conduct a dialogue and come to an agreement. But for this, according to him, it is necessary to “renounce messianism and mentoring habits”, which are inappropriate in the current conditions.
On November 30, Tracy announced her intention to expand communication channels between Moscow and Washington. She noted that during her tenure as Deputy Ambassador, there had been a serious decline in productive contacts.
Prior to this, the duties of Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Moscow were performed by Elizabeth Rud. Also since 2019, this position was held by John Sullivan, but on September 4 he left the post, at the same time ending a 40-year career in the civil service. The reason was family circumstances.
