One of Russia's most prominent diplomatic officials has been nominated as ambassador to Ireland. Mr Vladimir Olegovich Rakhmanin, who is expected to take up his post early next year, is currently chief of protocol to President Putin and former chief spokesman of the Foreign Ministry.
As spokesman, Mr Rakhmanin became well known internationally during NATO's bombing campaign in Yugoslavia when he was responsible for putting forward Russian policy to the international press and television.
He also defended Russia's military campaign in Chechnya, saying in a statement in November 1999 that "reports about the indiscriminate use of force by federal troops against the civilian population in Chechnya are taken from sources which turned Chechnya into a zone of terrorism". When Mr Putin became acting president in January 2000 following the surprise resignation of Mr Boris Yeltsin, one of his first acts was to appoint Mr Rakhmanin as head of protocol in the Kremlin.
Born in Moscow in May 1958, Mr Rakhmanin graduated from the department of international relations of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the Foreign Ministry of the USSR.
His first diplomatic posting abroad was as third secretary in the Soviet embassy in Beijing in 1982, after which he was transferred to Washington.
From 1987 to 1992 he was an aide to the USSR's deputy Foreign Minister, Mr Igor Rogachev, before returning to Washington as an adviser at the embassy of the Russian Federation. Following a period as deputy director of the Foreign Ministry's first Asian section he became head of information and chief Foreign Ministry spokesman in 1998.
Mr Rakhmanin will take over from Mr Yevgeny Mikhailov, whose tour of duty finishes at the end of the year.
