MOSCOW (REUTERS) - The US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, said on his blog on Tuesday that he will leave his post and the administration of President Barack Obama shortly after the Winter Olympics in Sochi this month.

Mr McFaul, the chief architect of the "reset" policy that improved Russia-American relations during Mr Obama's first term but gave way to increasingly strained ties, had faced criticism from Russian officials during his two-year stint as ambassador.