US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan ended his term as the top US diplomat in Moscow on Sunday after nearly three years, spanning the Trump and Biden administrations, and will retire from a long career in government service.
His departure, which comes amid a deepening crisis over Russia’s war in Ukraine as well as disputes over Americans detained in Russia, was expected this fall as he hit the usual time for US ambassadors. But it was expedited due to family medical issues, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the private nature of the situation.
“Ambassador Sullivan’s departure is planned and is part of a normal diplomatic rotation,” the State Department said. “He has served a full term as US Ambassador to Russia, managing one of the most critical bilateral relationships in the world for unprecedented times.”
The department added: “The United States will continue to unequivocally condemn the Kremlin’s aggressive war against Ukraine and remain steadfast in our commitment to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the war has slowed down with both sides exchanging combat attacks and small gains in the east and south. Both Russia and Ukraine have seen thousands of soldiers killed and wounded, and Russia’s bombing of cities has killed countless innocent civilians.
Elizabeth Rood, the deputy chief of mission to Russia, will be the top US diplomat in Moscow until a successor appointed by President Joe Biden replaces Sullivan.
A Boston native and avid ice hockey fan who brought his skates and equipment with him when he left for Russia, Sullivan had returned to Moscow from a summer vacation last week and had attended the funeral of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev on Saturday.
Sullivan took the helm of the Moscow embassy at a particularly difficult time in US-Russian relations, which have only worsened. He struggled to hold together a dramatically reduced-staffed diplomatic mission as Washington and Moscow carried out an increasingly harsh series of tit-for-tat expulsions.
Sullivan frequently spoke of his frustrations over deteriorating conditions for US diplomats in Moscow, especially after Russian restrictions on US and local personnel forced major staff reductions.
His four-decade public service career included postings in Republican administrations as deputy secretary of state and senior positions in the departments of Justice, Defense and Commerce.
Sullivan was deputy secretary of state when he was nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate with unusually strong bipartisan support to be ambassador to Russia in December 2019. Biden asked him to stay on when Biden took office last year. .
He had been the top US official in talks with Russia on counterterrorism and strategic security and testified at his Senate confirmation hearing that Russian efforts to undermine democracies must be combated.
Sullivan told senators he would be “relentless” in confronting Russia over election interference, hostile moves against neighbors like Georgia and Ukraine, human rights abuses and violations of arms control agreements.
His time as the second State Department official was not without controversy.
Sullivan was the one who broke the news to Marie Yovanovitch, the US ambassador to Ukraine, that Trump had lost confidence in her and that she would be removed from office early.
Sullivan told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he was given no other explanation for Yovanovitch’s removal and said he didn’t think she did anything to justify her removal.
Asked why he did not oppose Yovanovitch’s removal or speak publicly on his behalf at the time, Sullivan said ambassadors serve at the discretion of the president and can be removed with or without cause. He pointed out that his uncle, a former US ambassador to Iran, had been removed from Tehran by the Carter administration for what the family believed were unfair political reasons.
“When the president loses confidence in the ambassador, right or wrong, the ambassador leaves,” Sullivan said.
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