US Ambassador’s visit to Moscow opens up new opportunities for both sides

The very fact of the appointment and arrival of the new US Ambassador Lynn Tracy to Russia and the preservation of diplomatic relations between the two countries speaks of the importance of Moscow and Washington for each other, because despite the de facto conflict situation, this preserves official channels of communication, Director of IMEMO RAS Fedor told Vedomosti Voitolovsky. “There are other channels of communication, but the traditional interaction at the ambassadorial level is a very important part of the dialogue,” he said.

Moscow gets the opportunity to send important information to Washington, its assessments and signals through an official representative, to “work professionally” with the United States, Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, ex-Russian ambassador to the UK, told Vedomosti about the importance of Tracy’s visit.

The presence of ambassadors in both capitals of nuclear superpowers moving towards a direct collision is an important channel of constant communication, agrees Dmitry Trenin, HSE professor, leading researcher at IMEMO. “The ambassador feels better the atmosphere in the host country, he or she has personal contacts, there is also access to a high government level. So the arrival of the US ambassador to Moscow is a factor that reduces the possibility of mutual misunderstanding,” he told Vedomosti.

At the same time, it is impossible to talk about a dialogue in the full sense of the word between Washington and Moscow, he is sure – there are contacts, but the dialogue is “completely absent.”

Tracy arrived to Moscow on the night of January 26. For the first time, a woman has headed the US diplomatic mission in Russia. The previous ambassador (since 2019) John Sullivan left the post ahead of schedule in September 2022 due to his wife’s illness. On September 20, Tracy was nominated by President Joe Biden in Russia on September 20, and confirmed by the Senate on December 21. She knows Russian and worked as a Deputy Ambassador in Moscow in 2014-2017, as well as in many countries of the post-Soviet space – Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.

In Moscow, Tracy knew [поэтому] Consent to her arrival as an ambassador of the Russian Foreign Ministry gave immediately, says Trenin. Of course, Tracy’s previous experience in Russia will help, he believes: she has contacts, she can more accurately evaluate the information received, and so on. “I would not compare her with Sullivan, they are different figures. Sullivan came to Moscow from the high position of first deputy secretary of state, but he never specifically dealt with Russia. Tracy specialized in Russia and post-Soviet countries. This circumstance gives her some advantages in Moscow,” Trenin said.

Ambassadors are divided into two categories – political appointees and professional diplomats, Voitolovsky says. Tracy is an experienced diplomat who knows and understands Russia, who can engage in dialogue with Russian officials and experts.

Sullivan was a political appointee of the administration of former US President Donald Trump, he was not ready for the role that fell to him, the expert believes. “The appointment of Tracy is a signal that they want to talk on a serious level, in this respect it is positive,” he said.

“I am impressed that before leaving, Tracy met with [послом России в США] Anatoly Antonov, they exchanged views. This is normal diplomatic practice, which shows that she [Трейси] professionally equipped enough,” Karasin said. He warned that this fact should not be overestimated – ambassadors go to any country with “quite specific instructions.” It is important that the new representative of Washington maintain a sense of proportion in propaganda and evaluative things, Karasin says.

The US ambassador’s first priority will be to restore contacts from his previous period in Moscow and, if possible, establish new ones, Trenin said. There are acute issues related to bilateral relations, issues of regional and global security, issues related to the situation in Ukraine, Voitolovsky listed.

As declared On Jan. 6, State Department spokesman Ned Price, Tracy will have to maintain bilateral relations at a time of “extremely high tensions.” She plans to work with the Russian authorities to increase the number of personnel of the American diplomatic mission so that the embassy can perform its basic functions, including issuing visas, he said.