Who is State Department Veteran Lynne Tracy, Biden’s New Ambassador in Moscow?

Tracy is currently the US ambassador to Armenia, a position she has held since 2019, when her appointment by then-US President Donald Trump was confirmed. She was nominated to be the US ambassador to Russia in September, after then-ambassador John Sullivan stepped down.

Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month, Tracy defended her appointment to Moscow, saying she supported efforts to “put sand in the gears of the Russian economy” through sanctions, but also that she wanted to promote “people-to-people ties” between Russians and Americans in spite of the hostility.

Tracy told the Senate she supports tightening sanctions on Russia, including imposing a unilateral price cap on Russian petroleum exports.

Tracy also said she would “work to keep a spotlight” on dissidents in Russia, and work toward the return of US citizens charged with crimes in Russia, including WNBA player Brittney Griner, who has since returned to the United States after being traded for Vitkor Bout, a Russian citizen accused by the US of smuggling arms.

Tracy's performance in Yerevan wasn't received well by the Armenian-American community. In the wake of the 2020 Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Armenian National Committee of America gave Tracy an “F” grade for her failure to push US interests while on station in Yerevan. Among their objections was the US decision to stop supporting demining efforts in Artsakh, the breakaway republic of ethnic Armenians inside of Azerbaijan.

Other objections included a lack of additional assistance for Armenia as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and a refusal to condemn Azeri attacks or Turkish support for Baku during the 2020 war.

This undated U.S. State Department photo shows Ambassador Lynne M. Tracy. The Senate has voted overwhelmingly to confirm the new U.S. ambassador to Russia. The vote to confirm Lynne M. Tracy as the new ambassador came hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was expected to arrive Wednesday in Washington for a historic visit.

Decades of Service

Born in the small city of Barberton in northeastern Ohio, Tracy earned a B.A. in Soviet Studies from the University of Georgia and later a Juris Doctor from the University of Akron School of Law.

Tracy has a long career in the US Foreign Service, especially in Central Asia. From 1995 to 1997, she was principal officer in Astana (now Nur-Sultan), Kazakhstan; from 1997 until 2000 she was consular officer in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan as well as political/consular officer in Peshawar, Pakistan; and from 2002 to 2003 she was political officer in Kabul, Afghanistan. She also filled roles in Washington, DC, serving as desk officer at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs for Georgia from 2001 to 2002, and for Kazakhstan from 2003 to 2004. She was also staff assistant for the Special Envoy for the Newly-Independent States at the Department of State from 2000 to 2001.

From 2007 to 2009, Tracy was consul general of the US Consulate General in Peshawar, Pakistan. In 2008, her car was sprayed with bullets by gunmen, shooting out her car’s front tires. However, she, her bodyguard, and her driver all escaped, and she was awarded the Secretary’s Award for Heroism by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her quick thinking during the attack and for completing her mission despite the threats against her life.

From 2011 until 2012, Tracy was director for Central Asia at the White House National Security Council and from 2012 to 2014 she was deputy assistant secretary for Central Asia in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.

From 2014 to 2017 she was in Moscow, serving as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy there, for which she received a Distinguished Honor Award. In 2018, she was nominated to her current position in Yerevan.