 In 1936, he led a department in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.Although he had no prior diplomatic experience (he had never traveled abroad), Sambuu was appointed Ambassador of the Mongolian People's Republic to Moscow in 1937, where he managed Mongolia's most important bilateral relationship.Sambuu had been an early supporter of Soviet leadership in Mongolian affairs (he often referred to the Soviet Union as Mongolia's "big brother") and was viewed by Mongolia's supreme leader Khorloogiin Choibalsan as someone he could depend on to carry out the party line without deviation.