Anatoly Antonov

Anatoly Antonov’s career centered on security negotiations before he became ambassador in Washington. Born in Omsk in 1955, he graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1978 and entered the Foreign Ministry that year. He headed Russian delegations dealing with nuclear nonproliferation, chemical and biological weapons, conventional weapons restrictions, and export controls. He also led the Russian negotiating team for New START, the strategic arms agreement with the United States. ¹

Antonov moved into senior government positions as deputy defense minister in 2011–2016 and then deputy foreign minister. His Washington ambassadorship lasted from August 2017 to October 2024. ¹

During Russia’s war against Ukraine, Antonov was a channel for direct American protests. On 14 March 2023 the State Department summoned him to meet Assistant Secretary Karen Donfried after an American MQ-9 drone was lost over the Black Sea. Washington said a Russian fighter had struck its propeller; Russia’s Defense Ministry denied contact. Antonov had also been summoned in August 2022 over escalation and Russian military operations near a nuclear power plant. ²

PIR Center's biography identifies Antonov as a professor in MGIMO’s Department of Applied Analysis of International Problems. His academic qualifications include a doctorate in political science. ¹