U.S. ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman looks on during a news conference of U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton in Moscow, Russia June 27, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman has early-stage cancer and is being treated, according to comments he gave to a Utah-based newspaper in an interview published on Thursday.

Huntsman, who spoke in Moscow with Deseret News in a series of conversations in August, said at the time he planned to return for treatment to Utah, where he served twice as governor.

“It’s just stage 1,” he told the paper. “So we’ll probably get it taken care of, and we’ll be fine.”

Representatives for the U.S. Department of State and for Huntsman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Huntsman was diagnosed over the summer when he was in the United States, after noticing two small black spots behind his ear and on his thigh, he told the paper.

He has appeared in Moscow for recent events, attending national security adviser John Bolton’s Oct. 23 news conference in the city.

Huntsman previously served as U.S. ambassador to China and had sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 before dropping his bid.

His late father, billionaire Jon Huntsman Sr, died in February of cancer, and Huntsman Sr’s parents also died of cancer, according to his father’s obituary.