McFaul’s approval as ambassador to Russia postponed
According to information from Washington, the candidacy of Michael McFaul nominated for the post of ambassador to the Russian Federation has not yet received approval in the US Senate. According to an employee of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, this issue was postponed at the request of one of the senators.
According to Gazeta.Ru, the request to postpone consideration of certain agenda items was received at the last moment, and it is not yet known whether the next meeting will decide whether to approve McFaul’s candidature or not.
The meeting, scheduled for November 16, was postponed due to other existing candidates for this position and multiple controversies in the Senate on this issue. The delay gives the senators a chance to draw the attention of the US administration to existing differences with Russia.
First, there has been more than once criticism from the senators towards Russia, affecting human rights issues, the territoriality of Georgia, as well as issues relating to Iran.
Republican senators are experiencing dissatisfaction with the policy proposed by Michael McFaul, which indirectly implies a revision of views on relations between the United States and the Russian Federation.
As you know, Michael McFaul is now a member of the National Security Council under the President of the United States, is the senior director for the Eurasian region and Russia and is among the top experts on Russia in the United States. It was assumed that McFaul will replace the current US ambassador to Moscow, John Beyrle. Due to the prevailing circumstances, the arrival in Russia of a new American ambassador may postpone indefinitely.
In the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the candidacy of Michael McFaul, put forward by Barack Obama, received a positive assessment.
According to Alexander Lukashevich (representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation), McFaul is well known in Russia as an authoritative professional and one of the closest assistants to the American president dealing with issues of Russian-American relations. Lukashevich noted that Mr. Beyrle achieved good results in establishing and strengthening working contacts in Moscow, which certainly contributes to the further development of bilateral relations. The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the hope that the future ambassador would continue to move along the course taken.
He also noted that getting approval from the US Congress is not an easy exam for a candidate.
Information