:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/OAZ7N4X625BTJM4IQONB2FNP4E.jpg "Germany elects ruling party deputy as new ambassador to Russia")
BERLIN (AP) — Germany has named a lawmaker from one of the ruling parties as its new ambassador to Russia, a sensitive diplomatic post at a time of rising tension with Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
The German Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Russia has given formal approval for Alexander Lambsdorff to become ambassador, a necessary step before taking office. He is expected to start work this summer, he added.
Lambsdorff, 56, has experience in the German diplomatic corps, which he joined in 1995. He worked in the Russian department of the Foreign Ministry in 2003 and 2004.
In recent years, he has been better known for his political facet. He was part of the European Parliament between 2004 and 2017, before entering the German parliament. He is currently the second in command in the parliamentary group of the Free Democratic Party, the smallest of the three partners in the coalition that governs Germany.
Germany’s relations with Moscow have grown increasingly cold since Russia invaded Ukraine early last year. Berlin has become one of the main Western suppliers of arms to kyiv.
Last month, the German government asked the Kremlin to close four of its five consulate generals in Germany, in response to Moscow’s decision to limit the number of workers at the German embassy and related agencies in Russia.
In its first national security strategy, presented last week, Berlin declared that Russia is the biggest security threat “for the foreseeable future.”
Lambsdorff will replace the outgoing governor, Géza Andreas von Geyr, who had held the position since September 2019.