From Moscow Times:  President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as Russia’s new envoy to NATO.

The Kremlin announced Grushko’s appointment to Brussels and the decision to release him from his post at the Foreign Ministry in a two-sentence statement on its website.

The appointment of Grushko, the first career diplomat to hold the post, was not unexpected after Kommersant, citing unidentified sources, reported in April that he had been tapped to replace the sharp-tongued Dmitry Rogozin, who moved back to Moscow in December to become a deputy prime minister. . . .

Grushko has worked in the Foreign Ministry since 1977 and has served as deputy foreign minister since 2005. He headed Russia’s delegation on military security and arms control in Vienna from 1996 to 2000.

From RIA Novosti:  A diplomatic source said Grushkov “will arrive [in Brussels] in November. . . .”

Grushko, 57, graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in 1977 and has worked in the Russian Foreign Ministry for 35 years. . . .

He is fluent in English and Dutch.  (photo: Alexander Vilf/RIA Novosti)

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