Alexander Darchiev, Russian Ambassador to the United States, dies suddenly at 66

Alexander Darchiev, Russia's ambassador to the United States, died Wednesday at age 66, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow reported in an online statement.

It did not disclose where the diplomat died or provide a cause of death; it only indicated that he passed away "suddenly."

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The statement described Darchiev as "an outstanding diplomat, an experienced leader, a good comrade and mentor," as well as a brilliant scholar of U.S. affairs, who worked "in one of the most important areas of Russian foreign policy."

The long-time diplomat had been serving as ambassador to the United States since the beginning of 2025, according to his profile on the Russian Embassy in Washington's website. He succeeded Anatoly Antonov, who was relieved of his post at the end of 2024.

Before that, Darchiev headed the North American and North Atlantic departments of the Foreign Ministry; was ambassador to Canada; and served as minister-counselor at the embassy in Washington.

Darchiev led the Russian delegation in Istanbul in February 2025 for talks with the United States.

Another Russian diplomat, Moscow's envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin, died suddenly in February 2017 in New York at age 64. At the time of his death, Churkin was the longest-serving ambassador on the UN Security Council, a position he had held since 2006. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised him as an "exceptional professional and people's diplomat."

Russia's Foreign Ministry did not provide a date or location for Darchiev's funeral.