Russian Federation

Imperial and Soviet Antecedents

Russia’s Washington representation began under the Russian Empire, which established formal diplomatic relations in 1809. The revolutions of 1917 ended the monarchy and then brought the Bolsheviks to power, but the United States withheld recognition from the Soviet government until 1933. [1] [8] [9]

During the Soviet period, Moscow directed a multinational state extending beyond modern Russia’s borders. Its diplomats negotiated wartime cooperation, managed Cold War crises, and pursued arms control. The Soviet Union included republics that became independent states in 1991. [10] [11] [12]

By 1991, economic and political reforms, demands for national independence, and the failed August coup had weakened the union’s central government. Its dissolution created separate diplomatic relationships for the newly independent republics. The Russian Federation inherited the Soviet seat at the United Nations and the existing relationship with Washington, while Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and other former republics pursued foreign policies of their own. [12] [13]

Representation after the Soviet Union

The United States recognized the Russian Federation as the Soviet Union's successor on December 25, 1991. President George H. W. Bush announced that the American embassy in Moscow would remain in place; the State Department dates the establishment of relations with the Russian Federation to Boris Yeltsin's affirmative reply on December 31. In Washington, the change of state identity occurred within an existing diplomatic establishment whose personnel and property had served the Soviet Union. [1] [2]

Viktor Komplektov's appointment crossed that transition. He had served as Soviet ambassador from March 1991, and Yeltsin's decree of March 2, 1992 relieved him as ambassador of the Russian Federation. Yeltsin had appointed Vladimir Lukin to the post on January 24. [3] [2] [4]

The Embassy Campus and Its Work

The Russian Federation also inherited the large embassy project at Mount Alto on Wisconsin Avenue. The Soviet Union had leased the site in 1969, and a reciprocal agreement tied use of the Washington and Moscow compounds to simultaneous occupancy. Housing, a school, a kindergarten, and sports facilities were completed in 1979; administrative and ceremonial buildings followed in 1985. The completed ceremonial building opened during Yeltsin's visit in September 1994, after the Soviet state that had commissioned it had dissolved. [5]

On September 28, 1994, Boris and Naina Yeltsin hosted Bill and Hillary Clinton for dinner at the new embassy. Vice President Al Gore and Secretary of State Warren Christopher also attended. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown participated in a signing ceremony with a Russian official at the embassy during the visit. [6]

Access to another Russian property became the subject of a State Department order in 2017. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson designated 2001 Connecticut Avenue as premises that nobody could enter without written permission from the Office of Foreign Missions after 2 p.m. on September 2. Everyone on the property was required to leave by that deadline. The determination identified the Russian Federation as the owner and imposed restrictions on access to the building and its grounds. [7]

Cooperation and Confrontation after Succession

Russia’s seizure and claimed annexation of Crimea in 2014, followed by war in the Donbas involving Russian forces and proxies, sharply worsened relations. Washington rejected the annexation and imposed sanctions in coordination with European partners. [16]

The inherited embassy continued to serve a government negotiating over nuclear security and the international order. The 2021 extension of New START preserved an agreed framework for limiting strategic weapons for a further five years. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 then brought extensive American and allied financial sanctions and technology controls. [14] [15]

New START expired on February 5, 2026. [17]

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• Russia and the United States