Who is Lynn Tracy?
The upper house of the US Congress – the Senate – approved Lynn Tracy as the new US Ambassador to Russia on December 21. She was nominated by President Joe Biden on September 20. A few weeks ago, John Sullivan, the former head of the American diplomatic mission, resigned ahead of schedule and left Moscow. Sullivan’s serious illness and the recent death of his wife were officially cited as the reason for Sullivan’s departure. He held his post for about three years.
On September 22, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow had made an agreement for Tracy’s appointment. At the same time, the deputy secretary stated that Washington sought approval for his nomination “a while ago”. The diplomat noted that Russia would welcome any signs of improving relations with the United States with the arrival of a new ambassador, but so far such signs are “not even close”.
Until recently, Lynn Tracy was the head of the US diplomatic mission in Armenia. She will be the first female US Ambassador to Russia she. Andrei Klimov, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Foreign Relations Committee, told socialbites.ca that he does not expect any major changes regarding the two countries after Tracy’s appointment.
“It will implement the current policy of the White House administration quite accurately. He is, of course, a person prepared for such work. However, we must not forget that it represents a hostile state to us, which is the source of many problems in the world and in Russia in general.
“Those who sent him did this so that we would have more trouble,” the senator explained.
According to Klimov, he is familiar with the discussion of Tracy’s candidacy in the US Congress, where he was accused of communicating not only with Russian officials, but also with the radical opposition.
diplomatic career
Tracy is a career diplomat for the US State Department. Its age does not appear in open sources. But it can be assumed that the new Russian ambassador is 56-58 years old. In 1986, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Sovietology from the University of Georgia, a degree usually earned by young Americans aged 22-23.
Right after college, Tracy worked at the US Embassy in Moscow from 1987 to 1990. He later returned to his hometown and received a law doctorate from the University of Akron until 1994. After receiving it, he joins the State Department and holds various positions outside the United States during the 1990s.
This period of a diplomat’s career is mainly associated with Central and South Asia. Tracey has served as a political affairs officer at Pakistan’s consulates in Kabul and Peshawar, vice-consul in Ashgabat, consular chief in Astana, Georgia and Kazakhstan coordinator in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.
Heroism in Pakistan
In 2008, Tracy was serving as the US Consul General in Peshawar, Pakistan when it was attacked. An American woman’s car was ambushed on her way to work: she was shot at. Neither Tracy nor her driver were injured and they successfully reached the consulate. The attack is allegedly carried out by Taliban militants (an organization banned in Russia).
After this incident, Hillary Clinton, then head of the State Department, presented him with an award for his heroism. Tracy has been offered to increase security, stay out of the house with other employees, or move to Islamabad. But she refused. The diplomat continued his study meetings and even accommodated official visitors in situations where a hotel stay was dangerous.
From 2011 to 2014, the future ambassador of the Russian Federation worked in Washington. He first served as the Director of Central Asia at the National Security Council, and then as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Central Asia.
In 2014-2017, Tracy returned to Russia as an aide to then Ambassador John Tefft. In this position, he traveled a lot around the country, visiting distant regions – Primorsky Krai, Buryatia, Yakutia, Sverdlovsk Territory, Perm Territory.
Russian media reported that the purpose of these trips was not to get to know the culture of the country, but to meet with representatives of the opposition and instruct them and inspire the Orange Revolutions.
In 2017, State Duma deputy Yevgeny Fedorov included Tracy on the list of diplomats who should be expelled from Russia, as he regularly meets with “US influence agents”. But the American returned to Washington even before his deportation.
Armenian case
Lynn Tracy did not stay in her homeland for long – President Donald Trump proposed the candidacy of Nikol Pashinyan for the post of ambassador to Armenia, where he recently sat as prime minister.
Before being appointed to Yerevan, Tracy pledged to continue the work of his predecessor Rick Mills in the Senate and “support the aspirations of the Armenian people”.
However, his efforts were not appreciated by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), which awarded Ambassador Tracy a “garbage” rating for his inaction during the escalation of the Karabakh conflict. ANCA noted that the diplomat failed as the US representative in Yerevan. The main allegations were the lack of material and moral support to the Armenian people during the crisis, and the silence on “the crimes of Azerbaijan and Turkey”.
Tracy herself claimed to be providing aid to Nagorno-Karabakh. “During the conflict – I would say at the height of the conflict – we brought in $5 million to help the displaced people, the people who are still in Nagorno-Karabakh. We continue to help border settlements, especially in the Syunik region.”
Statements about Russia
Lynn Tracy has repeatedly spoken about the country, its people, government and relations with the United States, taking into account her rich experience working in Russia and in the post-Soviet space.
“It is necessary to acknowledge the existence of profound differences between Russia and the United States regarding the Ukrainian situation, and we hope that the Russian government will honor its obligations to implement the Minsk agreements,” Tracy said in 2015 in Chelyabinsk.
“The media of the two countries are currently creating an enemy image from each other. But the Russian media devote much more time to it,” he said.
“I had a very good experience in my youth: I saw how perestroika began, how Russia – then the Soviet Union – became a more open country. We can say that this experience had an impact on my career choice: Russia made me a diplomat! Tracy, about his work in Russia in 1987-1990, I always wanted to return to Moscow.