Russia has been told by the United States it can go ahead and appoint its new ambassador to Washington, a senior Russian lawmaker told state television on Monday.
The new ambassador may be formally appointed in the coming weeks, said Grigory Karasin, head of the International Affairs Committee in the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament.
Karasin did not name the new ambassadsor. The last Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, left his post in October.