President George W. Bush intended to nominate John Beyrle, the current US ambassador to Bulgaria, to be "ambassador extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Russian Federation," the White House said in a statement on May 13.

Beyrle has been tipped since January to fill the vacancy created by the nomination of incumbent William Burns as the new under secretary for political affairs after the retirement of Nicholas Burns (no relation).

Beyrle, a career officer in the senior foreign service at the rank of minister-counsellor, has been ambassador in Sofia since September 8 2005. He has previously served as deputy chief of mission in Moscow and counselor for political and economic affairs in Prague earlier in his career. Beyrle is considered to be one of the leading US experts on Eastern Europe.

Nancy E McEldowney, a career member of the senior foreign service, now serving as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Turkey, was nominated by the White House to replace Beyrle as ambassador to Bulgaria in February.

She was heard by the US senate committee on foreign relations, chaired by Barack Obama, on April 8.

During the hearing, McEldowney outlined her priorities as Washington’s envoy in Sofia: "to broaden and deepen our co-operation in combating terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, trafficking in persons and narcotics, and other forms of transnational crime”.

She said that, if confirmed as ambassador, she would work to advance stability and security throughout the Balkans, “to help this long-troubled region enjoy peace and prosperity as part of an undivided Euro-Atlantic community”.