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US Senate approves Jon Huntsman as ambassador to Russia

The vote took place at the end of the session and was held under a simplified procedure

© AP Photo/Alex Brandon

WASHINGTON, September 29. /TASS/. Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman was approved as the US ambassador to Moscow by the US Senate on Thursday.

The vote took place at the end of the session and was held under a simplified procedure.

The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Tuesday approved Jon Huntsman Jr as US Ambassador to Moscow on September 26.

During his nomination hearings, held on September 19, Huntsman said the United States had no other choice but to interact with Russia in solving a number of global issues. He also said he was set to discuss with the Russian authorities the issues of anti-terrorism, arms control and non-proliferation, as well as political settlement of the Syrian conflict and the Ukrainian crisis.

Huntsman, 57, served as the governor of the US state of Utah between 2005 and 2009. He speaks Chinese and is a father of seven children. The politician became the youngest ambassador over a century in the country’s history, when in 1992 he was appointed the US ambassador to Singapore at the age of 32.

Former US President Barack Obama appointed him the country’s ambassador to China in 2009 and he served in that post until 2011. Financial magazine Forbes estimated his wealth in 2016 at $1 billion.

Huntsmann will replace John Tefft, who was appointed to this post in July 2014.

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