You're reading: Obama nominates John Tefft for post of ambassador to Russia

United States President Barack Obama has officially nominated John Tefft for the post of the ambassador to Russia, the Russian News Service said, citing data from the White House.

Now his candidacy is to be approved by the Senate. Earlier Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov stated Moscow gave preliminary consent for Tefft’s arrival.

The office of the U.S. Ambassador to Russia has been vacant since February when Michael McFaul stepped down. Tefft previously served as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, prior to that worked in a similar position in Lithuania and Georgia. In the 1990s he held the post of a deputy head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Moscow.