U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy will leave her post after two and a half years in Moscow, the embassy announced Friday.
Tracy, a career diplomat, began serving as ambassador to Russia in January 2023 under the Biden administration. She previously held posts in several former Soviet republics — including Armenia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan — as well as in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“As I leave Russia, I know my colleagues at the embassy will continue to work to improve our relations and maintain ties with the Russian people,” Tracy said in a message posted on the U.S. Embassy in Moscow’s Telegram channel on Friday.
“I was inspired by meeting Russians who love their country and work every day for a better future,” she added.
She concluded her farewell message by quoting from Alexander Pushkin’s poem “To Chaadayev”:
While freedom kindles us, my friend,
While honor calls us and we hear it,
Come: to our country let us tend
The noble promptings of the spirit.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow, which first announced Tracy’s planned departure earlier this month, has not said who President Donald Trump will appoint as her replacement.
The embassy did not respond to a request for comment from The Moscow Times.
Since taking office in January, Trump has moved to replace many of the ambassadors appointed by his predecessor, Joe Biden. In May, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, who resigned from the role in April, said that she quit her post because she disagreed with Trump’s foreign policy.
Tracy’s departure came just months after Russia’s new ambassador to the U.S., Alexander Darchiyev, assumed his role. His predecessor, Anatoly Antonov, stepped down and returned to Moscow in October of last year.
In recent months, the Trump administration has made efforts to begin mending ties with Russia, which had fallen to an all-time low over the war in Ukraine.
Darchiyev said earlier this month that during a recent meeting with Trump, he told the U.S. president the Russian Embassy in Washington would “do everything to restore Russian-American relations, returning them to normalcy and common sense.”
Yet the speed and extent of the rapprochement remain uncertain. On Wednesday, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said the Trump administration does not appear ready to fully normalize diplomatic relations, citing stalled efforts to resolve embassy-related disputes.
Russia is pushing for the return of six diplomatic properties in the U.S. that were seized between 2016 and 2018 in response to allegations of election interference. It is also seeking “clearer answers” on its proposal to resume direct flights between Russia and the United States.
According to the Kremlin, U.S. officials have made the resumption of direct flights contingent on progress toward a ceasefire in Ukraine.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
