News outlets report that Jon Huntsman, who served as ambassador to China under former U.S. President Barack Obama, will be nominated by President Donald Trump as the nation's envoy to Russia.
Sources close to the White House say Huntsman has accepted President Trump's offer to serve in the post. Huntsman, a Republican, served as governor of ((the western U.S. state of)) Utah from 2005 to 2009, before resigning to take the Beijing post. He briefly ran for president in 2012. He also served as U.S. ambassador to Singapore under President George H.W. Bush.
Huntsman's nomination comes at time of increasing tensions and recriminations between Washington and Moscow. U.S. intelligence agencies have accused Russia of hacking the Democratic National Committee headquarters and releasing damaging emails in an effort to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in last year's presidential elections.
The controversy has cast a shadow over the new Trump administration, especially over allegations that some of the president's key allies met with Russian officials during the campaign.