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In this paper we present the results of a theoretical study of outer‐sphere electron transfer (ET) in a polar solvent, with the modification of the nuclear states by the change in the charge distribution originating solely from the response of the exterior medium. The model Hamiltonian for the system corresponds to two parabolic diabatic potential surfaces with adiabatic coupling between them. The real‐time path integral formalism is utilized to derive the general expressions for the influence functional of the medium in the Gaussian approximation and for the ET rate. The ET rate is explicitly evaluated for the particular case of a medium characterized by the Debye dielectric relaxation function. We explore the relation between the dynamics of the reaction coordinate and the character of the ET process, deriving an expression for the ET rate, which bridges between the nonadiabatic and the solvent‐controlled adiabatic limits …