Russia and the United States

Imperial Relations and the Recognition Dispute

Recognition, consular access, and diplomatic representation developed separately between the United States and imperial Russia. Francis Dana reached St. Petersburg in 1781 but was not received as an accredited American minister. Russia recognized the United States in 1803 through a decree accepting Levett Harris as consul. Formal diplomatic relations followed on 14 July 1809, when Andrei Dashkov presented credentials in Washington. John Quincy Adams presented his credentials in Russia that November. [1]

The Bolshevik Revolution created a much longer discrepancy between recognized representation and effective government. Washington withheld recognition from the Bolsheviks, and President Woodrow Wilson instructed American diplomats to avoid direct communication with them in December 1917. Yet Boris Bakhmeteff continued representing the displaced Provisional Government in Washington until 1922. The American embassy moved within Russia before closing in September 1919. The State Department’s historical guide describes relations as interrupted, but never formally severed. [1]

Recognition of the Soviet government in November 1933 emerged from negotiations between Franklin Roosevelt and Foreign Commissar Maxim Litvinov. Their reciprocal letters of 16 November agreed to establish normal diplomatic relations and exchange ambassadors. A separate Soviet undertaking promised noninterference in American internal affairs and restrictions on organizations seeking to overthrow the American political order. [2] [3] [4]

Alliance and Cold War Negotiation

Recognition did not remove the ideological conflict between the governments. American relief workers and businesses had already dealt with Soviet authorities during the famine and economic reconstruction of the 1920s. Formal embassies gave those contacts a permanent political channel in 1933, but Stalin’s rule and Soviet foreign policy continued to produce deep mistrust. [6]

Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 transformed the immediate agenda. Soviet ambassador Konstantin Umansky sought supplies in Washington, Harry Hopkins travelled to Moscow, and American aid became part of the common war effort. Allied leaders negotiated at Tehran and Yalta over military strategy, the postwar settlement, and the proposed United Nations. Disputes over the timing of a second front and Eastern Europe accompanied that cooperation; victory over Germany did not settle the allies’ competing plans for the peace. [7]

The danger of nuclear war made negotiated limits a central task of Cold War diplomacy. After the Cuban missile crisis, the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty restricted nuclear testing. Détente later produced the 1972 Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty and an interim agreement limiting strategic weapons. The 1975 Helsinki process joined security questions to commitments on human rights. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 helped halt that improvement, and the Senate did not ratify SALT II. [8]

The Russian Federation and a Deteriorating Relationship

The Soviet Union’s dissolution produced a different transition in 1991. In his address of 25 December, George H. W. Bush recognized independent Russia and stated that the American embassy in Moscow would remain as the embassy to Russia. The historical guide dates relations with the Russian Federation to Boris Yeltsin’s positive response on 31 December. [5] [1]

Russia’s seizure of Crimea and intervention in the Donbas in 2014 brought a sustained sanctions campaign. Washington rejected Moscow’s annexation claim and restricted transactions involving Russian officials, banks, energy companies, and defence enterprises, while prohibiting American trade and investment in occupied Crimea. [11]

Nuclear agreements survived major political disagreements after the Soviet collapse. New START, signed in 2010 and in force from 2011, limited deployed strategic nuclear forces and provided for data exchanges and inspections. In 2021 the governments exchanged diplomatic notes extending it for five years. [9]

Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 brought a much wider confrontation. The United States coordinated with European and other partners to impose banking sanctions and controls on exports of sensitive technology. The measures targeted Russia’s financial system and access to equipment used by its defence, aviation, and maritime industries. [10]

New START expired on February 5, 2026. [12]

Related Reading

• Rival Governments and Recognition in Washington