New Russian ambassador tells Trump he will work to restore relations

WASHINGTON – The new Russian ambassador to the United States, Mr Alexander Darchiev, pledged to work to fully restore relations with Washington as he formally presented his credentials to US President Donald Trump on June 11, Russian news agencies reported.

“Russia and the United States are destined, as great powers, to have non-confrontational peaceful existence,” the agencies quoted Mr Darchiev as telling a reception at the Russian embassy after returning from the White House.

“It was a great honour for me, as Russian ambassador, to speak with President Trump and I assured him that I and this embassy under my direction will do everything to restore Russian-American relations and bring them back to normality and common sense.”

He said Mr Trump had found time to receive him on the eve of the Russia Day holiday – which marks Russia’s 1990 declaration of sovereignty, more than a year before the Soviet collapse.

Mr Darchiev has already completed two diplomatic stints in the US and served as ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2021.

Like other senior Russian diplomats, he has in recent years issued strong public denunciations of the US and the West.

Washington’s relations with Moscow plunged to their lowest in decades under Mr Trump’s predecessor, Mr Joe Biden, over

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

.

Ties have improved since Mr Trump took office, with

the two sides in contact

to discuss a possible resolution to the conflict.

“We have at last moved from monologues under the previous administration and a general absence of discussion to quite a pragmatic conversation, a complicated conversation,” Mr Darchiev was quoted as saying.

The ambassador said his meeting with the US President was a short one as dictated by protocol.

“Nonetheless, our discussion was very constructive,” the agencies quoted him as saying. REUTERS