President Donald Trump has tapped veteran diplomat and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman as ambassador to Russia, the White House said.
The announcement came amid swirling controversy and multiple investigations into allegations the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to win the 2016 election.
Mr Huntsman, 57, previously served as US ambassador to China and Singapore. If confirmed by the US senate, he would venture to Moscow for a job that will be particularly high-profile as a special counsel in Washington probes the ever-growing Russia scandal plaguing the White House.
As a candidate, Mr Trump had criticised Mr Huntsman, a fluent Mandarin speaker, for letting China do “a major number on the US” during his time in Beijing under former President Barack Obama.
Mr Huntsman spent less than two years in that post before launching a failed bid to secure the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
