Foreign policy

Tim Barrow, invisible ambassador

Britain’s new envoy to the European Union kept a low profile as ambassador to Russia.

That was the reaction of the majority of Russians asked about the four-year tenure of Tim Barrow — the career diplomat named this month as the United Kingdom’s new ambassador to the EU — as head of the British embassy in Moscow.

Appointed as Britain’s ambassador to Russia in August 2011, Barrow operated almost entirely behind the scenes, avoiding the harassment and state media vilification suffered by some of his fellow Western diplomats.

But this low-key approach masked some solid diplomatic work, gaining him the respect of his counterparts and high-level Russian officials alike, during a period that included the crises in Ukraine and Syria and a Kremlin crackdown on political dissent.