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Russia picks 'bull terrier' as new ambassador to US

Can the extensive experience of Russian ambassador-in-waiting Anatoly Antonov, who has played an instrumental role in Moscow's policies across the Middle East, overcome controversy in Washington to pave the way for cooperation?
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Fresh people and ideas are badly needed as Russia seeks to bridge the gap between Moscow and Washington, amid a tide of highly polarized information.

The person who is supposed to be Russia’s key facilitator in the process — Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak — has been in that position since 2008. During that time, Kislyak took the heat for Russia’s most bitter foreign policy crises — the war in Georgia in 2008, the war in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s takeover of the Crimean Pensinsula and the gay rights protests, which were largely reported in the Russian media as an anti-Russian campaign in the run-up to the Sochi Winter Olympics.

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