WASHINGTON, D. C. – Barberton native Lynne M. Tracy on Wednesday told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that addressing the plight of U.S. citizens detained in Russia and of Russians who are speaking out against the country’s repression will be among her top priorities if the U.S. Senate confirms her nomination to be U.S. ambassador to Russia.
Tracy’s appointment is being considered at what she described as a time of “unprecedented tension” because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
She pledged to work closely with Washington authorities who are pressing for the release of Americans held in Russia, including WNBA star Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan and Marc Fogel, and will support Ukraine’s sovereignty as it defends itself from a Russian invasion.
“The Russian government is intensifying repression against civil society, independent media, human rights activists, pro democracy activist advocates, and even Russian citizens who simply have the courage to use the word ‘war,’” said Tracy, whom President Joe Biden selected for the high-profile ambassadorship in September. “If confirmed, I will work to keep a spotlight of support on those like Vladimir Kara-Murza, Alexei Navalny and Radio Free Europe reporter Vladislav Yesypenko, who have been jailed or harassed simply for seeking to exercise their fundamental freedoms.”
She also pledged to “reach out to the Russian people at all levels of society” to promote mutual understanding between Americans and Russians as a way to contribute to stable relations between the superpowers.
“Even in the darkest days of the Soviet Union. Citizens of goodwill in both our countries formed people to people ties,” said Tracy, who currently serves as U.S. ambassador to Armenia.
Before that, she was a senior advisor on Russian issues in the State Department’s bureau of European and Eurasian affairs. She previously was the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Moscow and has held diplomatic posts in Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Kazakhstan. While serving in Pakistan, gunmen sprayed her car with bullets as she was being driven to work, although nobody was injured. After that incident, she received a State Department award from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Tracy has a bachelor’s degree in Soviet studies from the University of Georgia and a law degree from the University of Akron. She speaks Russian.
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, told his colleagues that Tracy’s past deployments in “post Soviet space,” will prepare her well for the Moscow ambassadorship.
“Needless to say, our relationship with Russia is strained and a challenging one to manage,” said Portman. “We should not confirm anyone as U.S. ambassador to Russia who is untested or unqualified. Ambassador Tracy is neither of those. She’s tested. She’s definitely qualified.”
Portman asked how U.S. sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine could be made more effective. Tracy said she supports tightened sanctions against Russia, and suggested that an oil price cap “could be very effective at reducing some of Russia’s revenue but at the same time maintaining some some stability in the oil market.”
She said current sanctions seem to have put “sand in the gears of the Russian economy,” forcing Russia to seek weapons from countries like North Korea and causing the loss of able-bodied workers who have fled the country or been pressed into military service.
“I think continuing to show that strength of support, that unity of purpose is so very important,” Tracy told Portman. “Because my impression of President Putin and his mindset is that he thinks that he is more patient than we are, that he can wait us out, that our unity of purpose will crumble before his does. (It) needs to be demonstrated to him that is not an accurate calculation.”
Ad Choices