MOSCOW — Russia is replacing its ambassador to Syria. Many believe that Alexander Kinshak, 56, who has served in the Damascus post since 2014, will be appointed next month to lead Russia’s Foreign Ministry Department for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Alexander Efimov, 59, Russia’s current ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will take over as ambassador to Syria. The shift comes amid bigger swaps in the MENA department that have been taking place this year.
On March 27, MENA Department director Sergey Vershinin, 64, was appointed deputy foreign minister — a position that became vacant when Gennady Gatilov, 68, was appointed to be Russia’s permanent representative to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva. The Geneva post had been previously occupied for seven years by Alexey Borodavkin, 68, whom President Vladimir Putin appointed as ambassador to Kazakhstan in February.
Some Russian media outlets titled their reports on the coming appointment of Efimov as “Lavrov lobbies for a peace-making ambassador to Syria,” stressing Moscow's need for a comprehensive postwar approach in its Syria policies. (Sergey Lavrov is Russia's foreign minister.) The departing ambassador has long been a troubleshooter type of diplomat for Russia in the region. Having started his diplomatic career in 1988, from 2002-2004 Kinshak served as minister counselor of the Russian diplomatic mission to Iraq and then led the embassy in the country as charge d'affaires; Putin honored Kinshak with the Order of Courage for his service in Iraq. From 2004-2008 Kinshak served as deputy director for the MENA Department in Moscow, and then was designated back to the region as ambassador to Kuwait from 2008-2013 before moving to Syria in 2014.
As ambassador to Syria, Kinshak was instrumental in conducting Russia’s diplomatic efforts on the Syrian track, including talks with Damascus over arms supplies for Assad and Russian military facilities in Khmeimim and Tartus, as well as negotiations with Kurds and Americans. In February, he warned of an impending US attack on Syria in order to “undermine efforts on political settlement [in the country]."
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
