FILE PHOTO: Richard Grenell U.S. Ambassador to Germany attends the “Rally for Equal Rights at the United Nations (Protesting Anti-Israeli Bias)” aside of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
May 24, 2020
FRANKFURT/BERLIN (Reuters) – U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell is planning to step down in the coming weeks after little more than two years in the job, German news agency dpa reported on Sunday, without saying where it obtained the information.
Robin Quinville, deputy chief of mission at the embassy, is expected to replace Grenell on an interim basis, the report said.
The news comes only days after the U.S. Senate confirmed Representative John Ratcliffe, like Grenell a staunch political ally of President Donald Trump, as the permanent director of national intelligence (DNI).
In February, Trump had named 53-year old Grenell as acting DNI.
An embassy spokesperson declined to comment on dpa report.
“It is our policy not to comment on travel or schedules, but Ambassador Grenell has continued to actively engage on Administration priorities on Germany while serving as the Acting Director of National Intelligence,” the spokesperson said.
“As we said when he was appointed to that role, we continue to aggressively pursue key policy objectives as part of a whole-of-government approach.”
Grenell, who also serves as special envoy for peace talks between Kosovo and Serbia, did not immediately respond to a separate email sent by Reuters.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Michael Nienaber; Editing by Mark Potter)
