The FDP politician Alexander Graf Lambsdorff will be the new German ambassador to Russia. A spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin confirmed during the night that the Russian government had given its approval, the so-called agrément, for the personnel. “The start of service is scheduled for this summer,” said the spokesman. Lambsdorff is to succeed Géza Andreas von Geyr, who is currently ambassador to Moscow. Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine in February, the post has been considered particularly difficult.
Lambsdorff is Vice-Chairman of the FDP parliamentary group. Before his career in the FDP, Lambsdorff worked in the Foreign Service and for the Foreign Office from 1995. From 2000 to 2003 he worked in the press department of the German Embassy in Washington D.C., from 2003 to 2004 he worked in the Russia department of the Federal Foreign Office. Lambsdorff was a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017, most recently as Vice President.
