MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has decreed to appoint Vladimir Tarabrin as the country’s next ambassador to the Netherlands.

According to the presidential decree, Tarabrin will also hold the position of Russia’s permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

By a separate decree, Alexander Shulgin who has held both posts since 2015 was dismissed.

A diplomat since 1997, Tarabrin has been director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for New Challenges and Threats since 2019.

This year, Russia came within a hair of being re-elected as a member of the OPCW Executive Council, as Moscow’s candidacy garnered 65 votes, coming up short by a single vote below the required minimum.