Viktor Komplektov

Viktor Komplektov entered diplomacy through international law, graduating from MGIMO in 1954. His early Washington assignments involved translation and economic reporting, including American agriculture. After further embassy service in the 1960s, he joined the Soviet delegation to the strategic arms talks that opened in Helsinki in 1969. He subsequently headed the Foreign Ministry’s United States department and served as deputy foreign minister from 1982 to 1991. ¹

His brief ambassadorship coincided with the final negotiations for START I and the Soviet Union’s collapse. On 7 July 1991, he delivered Gorbachev’s reply to President George H. W. Bush through Brent Scowcroft. The message accepted an invitation to send Foreign Minister Alexander Bessmertnykh and Soviet military and arms specialists to Washington to accelerate the negotiations. ²

During the August 1991 coup, he conveyed the plotters’ messages to Washington; after its collapse, he publicly welcomed Gorbachev’s return. ³

Returning home in February 1992, Komplektov became an ambassador-at-large, undertaking assignments in Tajikistan and other troubled regions. He later represented Russia in Spain from 1994 to 1999, with concurrent accreditation to Andorra from 1996. ¹