New US Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan will likely continue the line of his predecessor, Jon Huntsman, which coincides with the position of the White House, President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Russia Alexis Rodzianko told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd December, 2019) New US Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan will likely continue the line of his predecessor, Jon Huntsman, which coincides with the position of the White House, President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Russia Alexis Rodzianko told Sputnik.
Earlier in December, the US Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Sullivan as ambassador to Russia. Sullivan, who before his appointment served as deputy secretary of state, replaces Huntsman, who completed his tenure in Moscow in October.
"I do not know him personally, and my impression of him is through second hand. We look forward to meeting with him until the end of January when he arrives in Moscow. Firstly, the presence of an ambassador in a country is better than the absence. Secondly, Sullivan has been serving in the State Department for two years, that is about the same time that Ambassador Huntsman was here [in Moscow]. Therefore, I do not expect any drastic changes," Rodzianko said.
According to him, new US officials are very consistent in communication and they interact with AmCham in the same way as their predecessors have.
"Therefore, I expect that Sullivan will continue the same line that Huntsman followed here and which actually coincides with the opinion of President [Donald] Trump," Rodzianko added.
Speaking earlier in December during his visit to the US, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised Sullivan as a very highly professional diplomat and said that Moscow would be happy to cooperate with him.
Sullivan pledged late in October to support dialogue with Russia on arms control, the fight against terrorism, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan.
