List of ambassadors of Russia to the United Kingdom

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Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom
Ambassador of Russia to the Court of Saint James's
MID emblem.png
Emblem of the Russian Foreign Ministry
Incumbent
Andrey Kelin
since 5 November 2019
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Embassy of Russia, London
Style His Excellency
The Honourable
Reports to Minister of Foreign Affairs
Residence Harrington House
Seat London
Appointer President of Russia
Term length No fixed term
Formation1556
First holder Osip Nepeya  [ ru ]
as ambassador to the Kingdom of England
Website Embassy of Russia in London

The ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or formally the ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Court of St James's, is the official representative of the president and the government of the Russian Federation to the monarch and the government of the United Kingdom.

Contents

The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Russian Embassy in London, while the official residence of the ambassador is 13 Kensington Palace Gardens. There is a consulate general in Edinburgh. [1]

The post of ambassador to the United Kingdom is currently held by Andrey Kelin, incumbent since 5 November 2019. [2]

History of diplomatic relations

The United Kingdom established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1924. However, King George V was still upset over the execution of the Romanov family and refused to receive the Soviet ambassador. In a breach of diplomatic protocol, he dispatched the Prince of Wales to accept the Soviet ambassador's credentials. [3] [4]

List of representatives (1556–present)

Tsardom of Russia to the Kingdom of England (1556–1707)

NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotes
Osip Nepeya  [ ru ]Chief of embassy15561557
Fyodor Pisemsky  [ ru ]Chief of embassy15821583
Grigory Mikulin  [ ru ]Chief of embassy16001601
Aleksey Zyuzin  [ ru ]Chief of embassy16131613
Pyotr Prozorovsky  [ ru ]Chief of embassy16621662

Tsardom of Russia to the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1720)

NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotes
Andrey Matveyev Chief of missionMay 17071708
Boris Kurakin Minister Plenipotentiary17101711
Albrecht von der Liet  [ ru ] Resident 17111713
Bertram von Shak Resident 17131717
Fyodor Veselovsky  [ ru ] Resident 9 June 1717February 1720
Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin Resident March 172014 November 1720
Great Northern War: Diplomatic relations interrupted (1720–1730)

Russian Empire to the Kingdom of Great Britain (1731–1801)

NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotes
Antiokh Kantemir Resident (before 17 July 1733)
Envoy (after 17 July 1733)
24 December 1731April 1738
Sergey Dolgorukov  [ ru ] Envoy 17381739
Ivan Shcherbatov  [ ru ] Envoy June 1739March 1742
Semyon Naryshkin  [ ru ] Envoy 31 December 1741June 1743
Ivan Shcherbatov  [ ru ] Envoy 20 June 1743August 1746
Pyotr Chernyshyov Envoy 14 July 174620 March 1755
Aleksandr Golitsyn Envoy 17551762
Alexander Vorontsov Envoy February 17621764
Heinrich Gross  [ ru ] Envoy 9 December 17631765
Fyodor Gross  [ ru ] Chargé d'affaires 17651766
Aleksey Musin-Pushkin  [ ru ] Envoy December 1765July 1768
Ivan Chernyshev Envoy 1768August 1769
Aleksey Musin-Pushkin  [ ru ] Envoy 12 August 17695 May 1779
Ivan Lizakevich  [ ru ] Chargé d'affaires 17751777
Ivan Lizakevich  [ ru ] Chargé d'affaires 17781778
Ivan Simolin  [ ru ] Envoy 5 May 177914 March 1784
Semyon Vorontsov Envoy 24 May 17844 May 1800
Ivan Lizakevich  [ ru ] Chargé d'affaires 17851785
Ivan Lizakevich  [ ru ] Chargé d'affaires 4 May 1800September 1800
Malta Question: Diplomatic relations by chargé d'affaires (1800–1801)
Yakov Smirnov Chargé d'affaires 29 September 180025 May 1801

Russian Empire to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1917)

NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotes
Semyon Vorontsov Ambassador 25 May 180115 May 1806
Pavel Stroganov Chargé d'affaires 10 May 18067 December 1806
Maxim Alopeus Special envoy7 December 18062 February 1808
Anglo-Russian War: Diplomatic relations suspended (1808–1812)
Pavel Sukhtelen  [ ru ]Special envoy30 August 181230 September 1812
Pavel Nikolai  [ ru ] Chargé d'affaires 30 August 181218 September 1812
Khristofor Liven Ambassador 18 September 181222 May 1834
Adam Matushevich  [ ru ]Minister Plenipotentiary7 July 183023 October 1830
Pavel Medem Chargé d'affaires 20 June 183431 January 1835
Carlo Pozzo di Borgo Ambassador 5 January 183526 December 1839
Nikolai Kiselyov  [ ru ] Chargé d'affaires 18391840
Phillip Brunnov Envoy 17 June 184018 December 1854
Crimean War: Diplomatic relations suspended (1854–1856)
Mikhail Khreptovich  [ ru ] Envoy 30 June 18568 February 1858
Phillip Brunnov Envoy (before 4 December 1860)
Ambassador (after 4 December 1860)
8 February 185821 May 1870
Nikolay Orlov Ambassador appointee21 May 187028 November 1870Was not accredited
Phillip Brunnov Ambassador 28 November 187022 July 1874
Pyotr Shuvalov Ambassador 22 July 187419 October 1879
Aleksei Lobanov-Rostovskii Ambassador 22 December 187913 July 1882
Aleksandr Davydov  [ ru ] Chargé d'affaires 18821882
Arthur von Mohrenheim Ambassador 13 July 18828 February 1884
Yegor Staal Ambassador 27 March 188430 August 1902
Alexander von Benckendorff Ambassador 190211 January 1917
Konstantin Nabokov Chargé d'affaires 19171917
Sergey Sazonov Ambassador January 19173 March 1917
Yevgeny Sablin  [ ru ] Chargé d'affaires 19191924Unaccredited by the post-Imperial Russian government

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1918–1923)

NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotes
Maxim Litvinov Authorised representative
Plenipotentiary (after June 1918)
January 1918September 1918Not accredited
Leonid Krasin Plenipotentiary1920July 1923Not accredited

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1923–1991)

NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotes
Christian Rakovsky PlenipotentiaryJuly 192330 October 1925Accredited from 1 February 1924
Leonid Krasin Plenipotentiary30 October 192524 November 1926
Arkady Rosengolts Plenipotentiary192626 May 1927
Grigori Sokolnikov PlenipotentiaryNovember 192914 September 1932
Ivan Maisky Plenipotentiary (before 9 May 1941)
Ambassador (after 9 May 1941)
8 November 193212 August 1943
Fedor Gusev Ambassador 12 August 194322 August 1946
Georgy Zarubin Ambassador 28 September 194613 June 1952
Andrei Gromyko Ambassador 13 June 1952May 1953
Yakov Malik Ambassador May 195311 January 1960
Aleksandr Soldatov  [ ru ] Ambassador 11 January 196025 January 1966
Mikhail Smirnovsky Ambassador 25 January 196627 April 1973
Nikolai Lunkov  [ ru ] Ambassador 27 April 19735 November 1980
Viktor Popov  [ ru ] Ambassador 20 November 198010 April 1986
Leonid Zamyatin Ambassador 10 April 198618 November 1991
Boris Pankin Ambassador 19 November 199125 December 1991

Russian Federation to the United Kingdom (1991–present)

NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotes
Boris Pankin Ambassador 25 December 199116 September 1993
Anatoly Adamishin Ambassador 5 September 19946 June 1997
Yury Fokin  [ ru ] Ambassador 6 June 199720 January 2000
Grigory Karasin Ambassador 6 March 20009 June 2005
Yuri Fedotov Ambassador 9 June 200527 August 2010
Alexander Yakovenko Ambassador 24 January 201126 August 2019
Andrey Kelin Ambassador 5 November 2019

See also

References

  1. "Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Edinburgh, the United Kingdom". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia) . Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  2. "Andrei Kelin appointed as Russia's Ambassador to the UK". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  3. Bilainkin, George (1944). Maisky, Ten Years Ambassador. G. Allen & Unwin Limited. pp. 73–74.
  4. Davison, Janet (21 May 2014). "Prince Charles and Vladimir Putin: Can royals wade into politics?". CBC News. King George V, who reigned from 1910 to 1936, was close to his lookalike cousin, Czar Nicholas II, but refused to meet a number of Soviet ambassadors following the revolution there. "He claimed to be unwell and [did] not receive the Soviet ambassador because he blamed the Bolshevik regime for the murder of his cousin, Czar Nicholas II and his family in 1918," says Harris.