Famous Russian Diplomats

Vyacheslav Molotov was a Soviet diplomat and politician. An Old Bolshevik, Molotov played a key role in bringing the Bolsheviks to power. He also played a major role during the Great Purge, signing 373 execution lists. Molotov was portrayed by actor Michael Palin in the 2017 political satire black comedy film The Death of Stalin.

Sergey Lavrov is a Russian diplomat and politician. Since 2004, he has been serving as the foreign minister of Russia. An alumnus of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), he began his diplomatic career in 1972. Considered a brilliant diplomat, he was later appointed to the post of minister of foreign affairs. He is multi-lingual. 

Alexandra Kollontai was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and diplomat. She served as the People's Commissar for Welfare in Lenin’s government. A powerful figure, she became the first woman in history to become an official member of a governing cabinet. She was also one of the few women to play a prominent role during the Russian Revolution. 

Russian politician Sergei Ivanov has been the Special Representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin on issues related to the environment, the ecology, and transport, since 2016. He has previously also been the First Deputy Prime Minister and the Russian minister of defense. A polyglot, he can speak Norwegian and French, too.

Soviet lawyer, diplomat, and KGB chief Vladimir Kryuchkov is best remembered for his involvement in the 1991 coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Born to working-class Stalin-supporting parents, he initially worked with the Communist Youth League. He misinterpreted the Able Archer 83 conflict simulation as the beginning of a nuclear attack.

Soviet diplomat Maksim Litvinov believed in disarmament and was behind the adoption of the Kellogg–Briand Pact and the Litvinov Protocol. He had also been the Soviet Ambassador to the US and later served as the deputy commissar for foreign affairs. He was the grandfather of Russian-American author Pavel Litvinov.

Former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov had begun his career as a journalist for Pravda. He later went on multiple espionage missions as a KGB official, using the codename MAKSIM. He also denied reports that his father was a victim of the Stalinist purge and that he had changed his surname.

Russian playwright Alexandr Griboyedov is best remembered for his comedy Gore ot uma, or Woe from Wit. He participated in the Decembrist revolt and even got arrested once. He was the Russian Ambassador to Iran and died at the hands of an Iranian mob during an attack on the embassy.

Born to an affluent landowner, Fyodor Tyutchev was homeschooled and grew up to represent his country as a diplomat in Germany. A nationalist and Pan-Slavist, he also became one of the most-quoted Russian poets. His love poems were inspired by his affair with his daughter’s governess.

Karl Nesselrode was a Russian German diplomat remembered for his service as the Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire from 1816 to 1856. Nesselrode played a major role during the negotiations with the USA, which defined the boundary between the Oregon Country and Russian America; Nesselrode was a plenipotentiary during the negotiations that culminated in the Russo-American Treaty of 1824.

Russian-born Korean army general Chung Il Kwon had an Imperial Russian Army interpreter as a father. He had been the foreign minister and prime minister of Korea and part of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. He also led South Korea in some of the most significant battles in the Korean War.