NEW YORK, March 9. /TASS/. The former Utah governor Jon Huntsman has agreed to become US ambassador to Russia, NBC television channel reported on Wednesday on Twitter.

According to the source of the channel, Huntsman "has accepted offer to be US ambassador to Russia."

Last week, the former governor met with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, he also contacted aides of US President Donald Trump and possibly Trump personally as well.

Politico reported on Wednesday that Huntsman was offered to become US ambassador to Russia and was "in the process of submitting paperwork to accept the position."

Jon Huntsman, who turns 57 this month, was the US ambassador to Singapore in 1992-1993, the governor of Utah in 2005-2009.

In 2009-2011, he served as US Ambassador to China. Huntsman speaks Chinese.

In May 2011, he announced his intention to run for the nomination as candidate for the presidency from the Republican Party at the elections. In January 2012, Huntsman announced his withdrawal from the race and formally supported Mitt Romney, who eventually lost to the Democrat Barack Obama.

During the pre-election race in 2012, Huntsman criticized the "reset" of US-Russian relations that was proposed by Obama. The ex-governor, in particular, then argued that the US pretends that the Kremlin is more of a partner than it really is. He also said that the Obama administration is trying to present the situation in such a way that Russia threatens its neighbors less than it really is. Huntsman had previously advocated interaction between Washington and Moscow in the field of arms control, but insisted that the relations between the two states should be viewed "more objectively."

During the presidential race, which ended in November 2016, Huntsman supported Trump after a series of critical speeches against him.