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Kremlin: Trump tells Putin new US envoy to Russia to be nominated soon

Earlier reports said that Jon Huntsman would step down on October 3

MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump said in a July 31 phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that a new US Ambassador to Russia would be nominated shortly, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"Trump said that soon [the ambassador] would be nominated," he stated.

Peskov noted that during the conversation, the White House occupant had told Putin that US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman would step down soon. The Russian president noted that Huntsman’s nearly two years in office saw one of the most challenging periods in the history of bilateral ties.

"Despite everything, the ambassador had been working in order to make the current period of relations between Russia and America somewhat constructive. Indeed, this was discussed," Peskov confirmed.

Earlier reports said that Huntsman would step down on October 3. Jon Huntsman was appointed the US envoy to Russia in October 2017. The diplomat earlier was the US Ambassador to Singapore in 1992-1993, the Governor of Utah in 2005-2009 and the US envoy to China in 2009-2011.

In May 2011, Huntsman announced his intention to run for president as a Republican Party candidate, but six months later he withdrew from the race and officially threw his support behind Mitt Romney, who was later defeated by then Democratic candidate Barack Obama. During the 2012 presidential race, Huntsman criticized Obama’s policy of resetting ties between Washington and Moscow.