Russia’s man in Washington, Alexander Darchiev, dies suddenly at 66, hours before Trump’s envoys fly to Putin

Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, has died at the age of 66, Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday, 11 November.

The ministry did not say how or where he died. In a statement it called him “an outstanding diplomat, experienced leader, kind colleague and mentor”, and described him as a professional of the highest order with deep expertise on America. The Russian embassy in Washington said he had devoted his career to defending Russia’s interests and to building relations with the United States.

The Kremlin did not immediately comment. No statement from the US State Department had been released in the first hours after the news.

Who was he?

Darchiev was a career diplomat whose working life ran through North America. He served at the Russian embassy in Washington in the late 2000s, was Moscow’s ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2021, and then spent four years running the Foreign Ministry’s North America department.

President Vladimir Putin sent him to Washington in March 2025, weeks after Donald Trump returned to the White House. He replaced Anatoly Antonov, whose term had been defined by the collapse in relations after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Darchiev was known earlier in his career for public attacks on the West. His task in Washington was the opposite: to help manage the rapprochement Mr Trump opened with Moscow, including direct talks between the two governments. When he was appointed, some observers doubted he would carry much weight of his own, and a former Russian diplomat who resigned over the invasion has described him as a protege of Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov.

Why does the timing matter?

His death comes at one of the busiest moments for US-Russia diplomacy in years. On Wednesday, two days of US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi ended with agreement on a large prisoner exchange, and US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are due in Moscow on Thursday to meet Mr Putin.

An embassy without its ambassador is normally run by a deputy until a successor is named, which requires the host country’s approval. Moscow has not said who will lead the mission in the meantime.

Has this happened before?

Sudden deaths of senior Russian diplomats abroad draw intense attention. In February 2017 Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s long-serving ambassador to the United Nations, died suddenly in New York aged 64. Russian officials have not suggested anything unusual about Darchiev’s death, and no details beyond the ministry’s announcement have been made public.

VNN will update this story as more is confirmed.