U.S. Ambassador to Russia Huntsman Resigns after Two Years on Job

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman Jr. is ending his two-year stint in the country after sending his resignation letter to President Donald Trump, Business Insider reports.

Huntsman thanked the president for “the trust you have placed in me as the United States ambassador to Russia during this historically difficult period in bilateral relations.”

Huntsman, a Republican, was governor of Utah in 2009, when former President Barack Obama named him as ambassador to China. He had been elected to his second term the year before.

Derek Miller, the president of the Salt Lake Chamber, a Utah business association, said Huntsman plans to return to his home state and is reportedly weighing another gubernatorial run.

Russian state news agency TASS quoted a foreign ministry spokesperson as saying Huntsman is a professional, but “the domestic political state of affairs in the U.S.” made it impossible to fully develop bilateral ties.

Previously, CNN had reported that Trump and Putin discussed the need for a new U.S. ambassador in Russia during a phone call last week. The two men did not mention any names of potential replacements for Huntsman, the network said.

Huntsman also served as U.S. ambassador to Singapore in the early 1990s, as well as a deputy U.S. trade representative under former President George W. Bush.