![]() ![]() His last formal event during his final days as ambassador was to attend the funeral of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on behalf of the U.S. Most diplomats agree that Sullivan played an important role in keeping some semblance of U.S.-Russia relations afloat in recent years through day-to-day contact with the Kremlin. ![]() “And I’m pretty sure Ambassador Sullivan did whatever he could, but he was just hamstrung by the people he was dealing with in the Kremlin and the foreign ministry.” “American diplomacy was not going to change Putin’s mind, and so there is a limit to diplomacy,” said Angela Stent, an expert on Russian foreign policy. In the run-up to Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States waged a full-scale diplomatic offensive to alert allies and partners in Europe of the threat as well as to try and talk Russian President Vladimir Putin down from his war ambitions, underscoring the limitations of the United States’ ability to cajole a stubborn adversary. “George Kennan couldn’t make it better, and John Sullivan couldn’t make it better,” Fried said. expert on the Soviet Union of his generation, was kicked out of Moscow by Soviet authorities in 1952 during the height of early Cold War tensions between the two great powers. “The last time relations were this bad were probably in the early 1950s, when Stalin was in charge and George Kennan was the U.S. ambassador can play in the modern diplomatic era when trying to manage a rocky relationship with a foreign adversary. Sullivan’s tenure offers insights into the limited role a U.S. ambassador to Poland and assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. ambassador can make a critical difference,” said Daniel Fried, a former senior U.S. “When things are bad between Washington and Moscow, no U.S. State Department spokesperson said.ĭiplomats and experts said Sullivan’s legacy on U.S.-Russia relations was limited through little fault of his own. “The White House intends to announce the next ambassador very soon, but we do not have anything to preview at the moment,” a U.S. But he still leaves big shoes to fill in an embassy that was forced to shutter consulates and hemorrhage staff as the Kremlin imposed steep cuts on the United States ’ diplomatic footprint in Russia. From his perch in Moscow, Sullivan had little ability to fend off the collapse in U.S. ambassador to Moscow, stepped down from his post this week after serving for nearly three years during one of the most tumultuous and difficult eras in modern U.S.-Russia relations. In the interim, Sullivan will be replaced by Elizabeth Rood, a career diplomat who is the embassy’s second-in-command, until the president nominates a new ambassador. It’s unclear when Sullivan will be replaced or who is slated to replace him. diplomacy, managing the day-to-day relations between two former Cold War rivals that steadily declined and then effectively collapsed after Moscow’s decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February. Sullivan, four current and former diplomats told Foreign Policy, had one of the most difficult jobs in U.S. His wife, Grace Rodriguez, a prominent lawyer, died from cancer on Monday. President Joe Biden’s policies toward Russia or the ongoing war in Ukraine. Sullivan stepped down from his post after his wife died due to health complications, and he stressed in an interview with Politico that his decision to retire had nothing to do with U.S. But he still leaves big shoes to fill in an embassy that was forced to shutter consulates and hemorrhage staff as the Kremlin imposed steep cuts on the United States’ diplomatic footprint in Russia. ![]()
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