The new U.S. Ambassador in Russia John Huntsman has presented his credentials to President Vladimir Putin.

“As for the bilateral relations with the United States, their present level is far from satisfactory. We support constructive, predictable, and mutually-rewarding cooperation. We are convinced that there is a need to strictly follow the principles of equality, of respect for national interests, and of non-interference into internal affairs,” President Putin said at a ceremony in the Kremlin.

President Putin also expressed to Huntsman his condolences in connection with the tragedy in Las Vegas, as a result of which 59 people have died.

Ambassador of the European Union Markus Ederer, Ambassador of Spain Ignacio Rubio, and Ambassador of France Sylvie-Agnès Bermann, as well as the heads of diplomatic missions of 16 other states presented their credentials to the Russian President on October 3, 2017. Ambassador Huntsman arrived in Moscow one day earlier. His predecessor U.S. Ambassador John Tefft, who served from 2014, left Russia on September 28.

The news of Mr. Huntsman’s appointment to the position of the U.S. ambassador to Moscow was first announced in March 2017. On July 19, 2017, President Donald Trump officially nominated Mr. Huntsman for the ambassadorship and the nomination was then approved by the Senate.

Mr. Huntsman, who is 56 years old, is the son of billionaire John Huntsman Sr., the founder of Huntsman Corporation, a large chemical company. Prior to the appointment as the ambassador, he headed the Atlantic Council thinktank.

Huntsman is considered to be a supporter of a hardline approach to Russia. From 1992 to 1993 Huntsman was the U.S. Ambassador in Singapore. From 2005 to 2009 he served as the Governor of Utah. He left the governorship and was appointed as the ambassador to China. In 2011 Huntsman resigned from his position as the ambassador and put his candidacy for the presidential race. However, after he failed to succeed in the primaries in January 2012, he supported the Republican candidate Mitt Romney.

During the 2012 presidential campaign, Mr. Huntsman criticized the “reset” policy that Barack Obama’s administration had pursued. The candidate claimed that the Obama White House pretended that Russia was more of a partner than it actually was.

Officials in the Kremlin said they were hopeful Ambassador Huntsman’s tenure would help restore the Russian-American relationship.