Biden Has Settled on Nominee for Ambassador to Russia: Reports

US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan retired in early September after completing a two-and-three-quarter year stint in the job, leaving the post temporarily vacant.

President Joe Biden plans to nominate US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy as the US’s top diplomat in Moscow, CNN, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post have reported, citing diplomatic sources said to be familiar with the deliberations.

Tracy has been US ambassador to Armenia since 2019, and before that worked as the deputy chief of mission in Moscow between 2014 and 2017 and the first years of the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis.

Before that, she served as a senior advisor on Russia matters at the State Department under Victoria Nuland, and has also worked in US diplomatic postings in Central Asia and Pakistan.

She received an award for "heroism" from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009, with the award given out for “acts of courage, sacrifice and exceptional performance at the risk of personal safety.” During her posting at the US consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan in 2008, Tracy is said to have had a close encounter with gunmen who attacked her vehicle, but to have remained at her post and rejected transfer.

Tracy’s nomination will require approval from the Senate, and from the Russian side. She is said to be a career diplomat with knowledge of the Russian language.

The diplomat has received flak from Armenia's opposition forces over alleged meddling in the country's internal affairs.

In the interim, US deputy chief of mission Elizabeth Rood is acting as US top diplomat in Moscow. Rood has been nominated for the post of ambassador to Turkmenistan.