MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Natalya Poklonskaya as ambassador to Cape Verde, an island country in West Africa, located in the central Atlantic Ocean, according to a decree published on the official portal of legal acts on Wednesday.

Putin signed another decree relieving Vladimir Sokolenko from the post.

Poklonskaya served as Deputy Chairperson of the 7th State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs and is a former prosecutor of Crimea. She intends to facilitate the strengthening of Russia’s relations with this country. "I am collecting the necessary documents, materials for the Foreign Ministry, then [there will be] a meeting with the former ambassador. Then I will go to the host country, will meet the staff there, the country’s leadership, we will work on strengthening the relations of our country," she said.

The ambassador said that the new appointment is a matter of great honor and pride. "I am grateful to our president and I will do everything that depends on me to meet expectations, represent our country in Cape Verde at the proper level. I had classes, instruction, training at the Foreign Ministry. Our diplomats are top-level specialists, I am impressed by their skills and try to adopt best practices. It is different in diplomacy, one needs forbearance," she noted.

Earlier, she declined to comment on her possible appointment as ambassador, while First Deputy Chairperson of the seventh Russian State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs Svetlana Zhurova told TASS that Poklonskaya has not excluded the possibility of being an envoy.