Biography
Jonathan James Aves and Katherine Jane Leach, a husband and wife team, have been appointed Her Majesty’s Joint Ambassadors to the Republic of Armenia from January 2012.
From 1 March, 2014 Kathy Leach took over as Her BritannicMajesty’s Ambassador and will remain as Ambassador until the end of her posting.
Jonathan and Katherine joined the FCO in 1996 and 2000 respectively, following careers in academia and public opinion research. Together they have many years’ experience and knowledge of the history, languages and culture of the South Caucasus and the wider region. Their FCO careers have covered a range of policy areas including security policy, EU trade and development, energy security and human rights.
Most recently they had a joint posting to Tokyo where Jonathan coordinated the UK’s political input into Japan’s 2008 G8 Chairmanship and Katherine coordinated UK and Japanese positions in advance of the UN climate change summit in Cancun and worked with UK and Japanese business to promote low carbon prosperity.
In 2011, Jonathan worked on the UK’s input into the UN Human Rights Council on issues such as Libya, Syria and Iran.
Jonathan and Katherine have three children and live in Brentwood, Essex.
British Ambassador to Armenia
The Ambassador represents Her Majesty The Queen and the UK government in the country to which they are appointed. They are responsible for the direction and work of the Embassy and its Consulates, including political work, trade and investment, press and cultural relations, and visa and consular services.
