Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, has died at the age of 66, the Russian Foreign Ministry has announced.
The ministry said the diplomat died suddenly on November 11 but gave no details on the cause. In a statement, it expressed profound sorrow and described him as an outstanding diplomat, an experienced leader and a mentor to his colleagues.
Moscow also praised Darchiev as a distinguished expert on the United States who had served in one of the most demanding fields of Russian foreign policy. The Russian Embassy in Washington said he had devoted his life to defending Russian interests and building relations with the US.
A US State Department spokesperson told Newsweek the department was aware of the death and offered condolences to his family. The Kremlin did not immediately comment, The Moscow Times reported.
Darchiev was born in Hungary in 1960 into a diplomatic family and graduated in history from Moscow State University in 1983. He served two long spells at the Russian Embassy in Washington, including as minister-counsellor from 2005 to 2010.
He was ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2021, a period in which relations between Moscow and Ottawa soured after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. He later headed the Foreign Ministry’s North American Department.
Darchiev led the Russian delegation at talks with US officials in Istanbul in February 2025, after which Washington approved his appointment. Russian President Vladimir Putin named him ambassador on March 6, 2025, filling a post left vacant since Anatoly Antonov departed in October 2024.
The appointment came as Moscow and the new Trump administration sought to mend relations, a rapprochement that unsettled Kyiv and Washington’s European allies, Reuters reported at the time. Darchiev was known for his sharp denunciations of the West and in 2022 defended Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as necessary.
Boris Bondarev, a former Russian diplomat who resigned in protest at the invasion, has described Darchiev as a protégé of Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov. Observers cited by The Moscow Times said on his appointment that he was unlikely to wield much influence, as the two capitals handled the major issues at a higher level.
His death comes as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner pursue their efforts to broker an end to the Ukraine war. After meeting Witkoff in St Petersburg on October 21, Ushakov said Putin had agreed in principle to resume three-way talks with Washington and Kyiv after November 10.
In December 2025, Aleksandr Matsegora, Moscow’s ambassador to North Korea, also died suddenly, with the Foreign Ministry likewise disclosing no cause.
