Jon Huntsman capped his first week as U.S. ambassador to Russia with a stop at the Utah State Capitol for a ceremonial swearing-in Saturday afternoon.
Well-known Utah Republicans such as Gov. Gary Herbert, Rep. Mia Love, Sen. Orrin Hatch and state House Speaker Greg Hughes were all in the crowd gathered in the Gold Room for Huntsman’s return to Utah, where he previously served as the state’s governor.
“I haven’t spoken in this room since Gary led a bloodless coup,” Huntsman joked, to laughs from friends, family and former staff members. Herbert, who previously was Huntsman’s lieutenant governor, became governor when Huntsman accepted President Barack Obama’s nomination to be the ambassador to China in 2009.
Before administering the oath, Herbert praised Huntsman’s dedication to public service.
“A nation calls and says who is our best and our brightest and the one who has the skills necessary to see if we can navigate and foster a better relationship between America and Russia,” Herbert said. “That call goes out to Jon M. Huntsman Jr.”
There is a “low level of trust” between the U.S. and Russia, Huntsman said during his remarks after the oath. Improving relations between the two governments will be his primary goal as ambassador.
“I need to be very honest about the current perceptions of Russia now in the United States,” Huntsman said. “Events over the past year, in particular, have led many Americans to believe Russia wants to undermine American democracy.”
Huntsman was referring to multiple investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Earlier this month, during testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Huntsman said there is “no question that the Russian government interfered in the U.S. election last year and Moscow continues to meddle in the democratic processes of our friends and allies.”
Trust is harder to build than it is to break, he said, adding that Russia needs to calculate its actions carefully to avoid further deteriorating relations.
Once trust is rebuilt, the two governments can look at working together in other areas, such as restoring Ukraine sovereignty, which Huntsman called “an essential first step” to improving U.S.-Russian relations.
“The road to improved relations leads through Ukraine,” he said. The two nations also will need to work together to force North Korea to the negotiation table and to defeat ISIS and end Syrian suffering.
The Senate confirmed Huntsman unanimously on Sept. 28. Huntsman’s week started in Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin before flying back to Washington to meet with President Donald Trump.
Huntsman has previously served as ambassador to China under Obama and ambassador to Singapore under President George. H. W. Bush.
Editor’s note: Ambassador Jon Huntsman’s brother Paul Huntsman is the owner and publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune.
