INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
returned to Russia over the weekend
is a former deputy foreign and defense minister who was born in the Siberian city of Omsk in 1955 and joined the Soviet Foreign Ministry in
He previously worked with American officials as the Foreign Ministry's head of security and disarmament, holding high-level talks on
reducing the countries' nuclear stockpiles.The diplomat, who is under EU and U.K
sanctions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, served at a time when relations between the United States and Russia deteriorated sharply
due to Moscow's 2022 invasion.Even before the invasion, the United States diplomatic presence in Russia had been sharply reduced after a
decree by Putin limiting the hiring of local staff, with Russians seeking United States visas often obliged to go to embassies in third
