page_title: Tim Barrow
section_title: London, Brussels, Kiev and Moscow (2000–2017)
hierarchical_section_title: Tim Barrow / Diplomatic career / London, Brussels, Kiev and Moscow (2000–2017)
caption_attribution_description: English: Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Russian Federation, Mr Tim Barrow, presents his letter of credence to President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, at a ceremony on 7 December 2011 Русский: Церемония вручения верительных грамот послами иностранных государств. Верительную грамоту Президенту России вручает посол Соединённого Королевства Великобритании Тимоти Эрл Барроу.
context_page_description: Sir Timothy Earle Barrow KCMG LVO MBE is a British diplomat who is the current British Ambassador to the European Union. Barrow was appointed as Permanent Representative in January 2017 following the resignation of his predecessor, Sir Ivan Rogers, and played an important role in the United Kingdom Brexit negotiations. He was responsible on 29 March 2017 for formally invoking Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union on behalf of the UK. When the United Kingdom left the EU on 31 January 2020, Barrow became British Ambassador to the European Union.
  Barrow has been a civil servant in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 1986. He served in London, Kiev, Moscow and Brussels before his appointment as the British Ambassador to Ukraine in 2006. In 2008, he became the Ambassador to the Western European Union and the UK Representative to the Political and Security Committee. From 2011 to 2016, he served as the British Ambassador to Russia before returning to London as the FCDO's Political Director, the number two in the department to the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
context_section_description: In 2000, Barrow was appointed as head of the Common Foreign and Security Department at the Foreign Office, and in 2003 was appointed as the assistant director of the Europe Directorate - External, including during the UK's presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2005. He was also involved in negotiations over the Treaty of Lisbon at this time. Barrow served as deputy political director at the Foreign Office from 2005 to 2006 before his appointment as Her Majesty's Ambassador to Ukraine in 2006. He took up the post in July that year and held it until 2008 when he returned to Brussels as UK Representative to the Political and Security Committee and Ambassador to the Western European Union.
  In August 2011, Barrow was announced as Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Russian Federation, to succeed Anne Pringle in November that year. Shortly after his arrival, he oversaw the visit of David Cameron, the Prime Minister, to Russia. This was part a wider policy implemented by Cameron for a "reset" in relations with Russia following the fallout of the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko. In August 2012, he was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry over the stoning of the Russian Embassy in London by anti-war activists protesting Russian involvement in the Syrian Civil War. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov expressed his wish to Barrow that "such dangerous and provocative actions will be strongly suppressed by the British security in the future."
  In February 2015, following the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, Barrow hosted the former Prime Minister John Major. He also attended Nemtsov's wake with Major and joined other Western ambassadors in laying flowers at a tribute to him near Red Square. Politico reported that he was a "low-key" ambassador, which allowed him to avoid some of the vilification aimed at other Western diplomats. However, this masked some significant achievements that he made in a tenure marked by Russian military interventions in Ukraine and Syria and a crackdown on dissent by Vladimir Putin. Aleksey Pushkov, who led the State Duma foreign affairs committee during Barrow's tenure, commented that "He created the impression of a real professional who was able to advocate the positions of his own government, while also striving to find out and understand Russia’s positions."
  After leaving his role in Moscow, Barrow was appointed as a political director at the Foreign Office in London, succeeding Simon Gass. This role included overseeing international organisations, multilateral policy, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Africa, South Asia and Afghanistan.
caption: Barrow presents his letter of credence to Dmitry Medvedev, then-President of Russia, on 7 December 2011.
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