List of ambassadors of Russia to France

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Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the French Republic
Emblem of the Russian Foreign Ministry
Incumbent
Aleksey Meshkov [ru]
since 23 October 2017
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Embassy of Russia in Paris
StyleHis Excellency
The Honourable
Reports toMinister of Foreign Affairs
SeatParis
AppointerPresident of Russia
Term lengthAt the pleasure of the President
WebsiteEmbassy of Russia in France

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the French Republic is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the President and the Government of France.

The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Embassy of Russia in France.[1] There are consulates general in Strasbourg and Marsailles, an honorary consul in Lyon, and a vice-consulate in Biarritz.[2][3][4][5] The post of Russian Ambassador to France is currently held by Aleksey Meshkov [ru], incumbent since 23 October 2017.[6] The Russian ambassador to France is concurrently accredited as ambassador to Monaco, where there is an honorary consul general.[7]

History of diplomatic relations[edit]

Main article: France–Russia relations

Russian-French contacts began on August 9, 1717, when Hans Christoph Shleynits, the first Russian ambassador to France, was appointed by Tsar Peter I of Russia and presented his credentials to King Louis XV of France.[8] France responded by sending its first ambassador to Russia, Jacques de Campredon, in September 1721.[9] Since then, relations were fairly constant between the two countries, although they were severed and restored many times. Overall, relations between France and Russia have been very close, and French was even considered the unofficial second language of Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries.[citation needed]

Relations between the two countries were severed in 1733 with the start of the War of the Polish Succession and resumed in 1738. Poor relations between the revolutionary government of France and the Russian Monarchy led to relations being severed in 1792. The Napoleonic Wars marked the start of new conflicts between Russia and France, and relations were not restored until the conclusion of the War of the Second Coalition between Russia and France in 1800. The War of the Third Coalition in 1805 led to the disruption of diplomatic relations once again, which were not restored until the signing of the Treaty of Paris on November 20, 1815. Russia and France conflicted over different views on the Revolutions of 1848 and the French support of revolutions in multinational countries. This led to the Crimean War on March 27, 1854, which ended with a Russian defeat on March 30, 1856.[10] Relations between the two countries improved after that, and remained uninterrupted until the October Revolution of 1917.[9]

RussiaDiplomatic relations between Russia and FranceFrance
Russian Empire Russian Empire
August 5, 1717 – Establishment of diplomatic relations
1733 – Diplomatic relations broken off, War of the Polish Succession begins
1738 – Restoration of diplomatic relations, War of the Polish Succession ends
1748 – Diplomatic relations broken off, Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends War of the Austrian Succession
1755 – Restoration of diplomatic relations
1756 - Diplomatic Revolution, alliance for Seven Years' War
1799–1800 – War of the Second Coalition
1800 – Restoration of diplomatic relations
August 28, 1804 – Diplomatic relations broken off, War of the Third Coalition
June 26, 1807 – Restoration of diplomatic relations, Treaty of Tilsit
1812 – Diplomatic relations severed, French invasion of Russia
May 18, 1814 – Restoration of diplomatic relations, Treaty of Paris (1815)
January 23, 1854 – Diplomatic relations severed, Crimean War
March 18, 1856 – Restoration of diplomatic relations, Treaty of Paris (1856)
August 21, 1891 – Franco-Russian Alliance
1904 – Triple Entente formed
Soviet Union Soviet Union
October 26, 1917 – October Revolution, diplomatic relations severed
October 28, 1924 – Diplomatic relations established
May 2, 1935 – Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance
June 30, 1941 – Diplomatic relations severed, Operation Barbarossa
October 23, 1944 – Restoration of diplomatic relations
Russian Federation Russia
February 7, 1992 – France recognizes the Russian Federation as successor to the USSR

French Prime Minister Édouard Herriot sent a telegram to Alexey Rykov, the President of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, on October 26, 1924, informing him of the French recognition of the establishment of the Soviet Union. When Germany declared war on the Soviet Union on June 30, 1941, the Vichy France government broke off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, but never officially entered a state of war. Relations were reestablished on October 23, 1944, with the Soviet recognition of the new Provisional Government of the French Republic. Since then, relations between the new nations remained unbroken, although they were strained at times during the Cold War.[9][11]

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, relations between France and the new Russian Federation were warm, and France recognized Russia as the successor of the USSR on February 7, 1992.[9][12]

List of representatives (1711 – present)[edit]

Representatives of the Tsardom of Russia to the Kingdom of France (1711 – 1721)[edit]

Name Image Title Appointment Termination Notes
Grigory Volkov Chargé d'affaires 1 July 1711 October 1712
Ivan Lefort Chargé d'affaires 1716 1717
Hans Christoph Shleynits Envoy 9 August 1717 1720
Vasily Dolgorukov Envoy 25 September 1720 2 November 1721
Source: Diplomats of the Russian Empire- France[10]

Representatives of the Russian Empire to the Kingdom of France (1721 – 1792)[edit]

Name Image Title Appointment Termination Notes
Vasily Dolgorukov Envoy 2 November 1721 16 March 1722
Alexander Kurakin Ambassador 4 May 1722 1724
Boris Kurakin Ambassador 4 May 1722 17 October 1727
Alexander Kurakin Ambassador 17 October 1727 11 July 1728
Aleksandr Golovkin [ru] Chief of mission (before 1729)
Envoy (after 1729) 		1728 1731
Ernst Johann Graf von Münnich [ru] Chargé d'affaires July 1731 1733
Antiokh Kantemir Envoy (before 11 December 1738)
Ambassador (11 December 1738 - 24 September 1742)
Envoy (after 24 September 1742) 		18 April 1738 31 March 1744
Aleksey Gross [ru] Chargé d'affaires (before 1745)
Envoy (after 1745) 		31 March 1744 June 1748
Fyodor Bekhteyev [ru] Chargé d'affaires 1756 11 July 1757
Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin Ambassador 10 August 1756 26 February 1760
Piotr Chernyshev Ambassador 4 July 1760 26 July 1762
Sergei Saltykov Ambassador 1762 August 1763
Dmitri Golitsyn Ambassador 1762 1768
Nikolai Khotinsky Chargé d'affaires 1767 1774
Ivan Baryatinskiy [ru] Ambassador August 1773 1785
Ivan Simolin [ru] Ambassador 14 March 1784 7 February 1792 Recalled in 1792
Formally ambassador until his death on 19 September 1799
Source: Diplomats of the Russian Empire- France[10]

Representatives of the Russian Empire to the First French Empire (1800 – 1812)[edit]

Name Image Title Appointment Termination Notes
Georg Magnus Sprengtporten Special Envoy 1800 1800
Stepan Kolychyov [ru] Ambassador 1800 1 July 1801
Arkady Morkov Ambassador 1 July 1801 26 October 1803
Pyotr Ubri [ru] Chargé d'affaires 15 November 1803 28 August 1804
Pyotr Ubri [ru] Special Envoy 2 May 1806 9 July 1806
Pyotr Tolstoy Ambassador 31 August 1807 19 October 1808
Nikolay Rumyantsev Special Envoy 4 October 1808 2 February 1809
Grigory Gagarin [ru] Chargé d'affaires October 1808 November 1808
Alexander Kurakin Ambassador 19 October 1808 10 November 1812
Source: Diplomats of the Russian Empire- France[10]

Representatives of the Russian Empire to the Kingdom of France (1814 – 1852)[edit]

Name Image Title Appointment Termination Notes
Carlo Andrea Pozzo di Borgo Envoy (before 17 February 1821
Ambassador (after 17 February 1821) 		1 April 1814 5 January 1835
Pavel Medem Chargé d'affaires 31 January 1835 1835
Pyotr Palen Ambassador 11 March 1835 8 April 1851
Nikolai Kiselyov [ru] Chargé d'affaires (before 8 April 1851)
Special Envoy (8 April 1851 - 6 January 1853) 		1851 2 December 1852

Representatives of the Russian Empire to the Second French Empire (1852 – 1870)[edit]

Name Image Title Appointment Termination Notes
Nikolai Kiselyov [ru] Special Envoy (8 April 1851 - 6 January 1853)
Envoy (after 6 January 1853) 		2 December 1852 13 January 1854
Philipp von Brunnow Special Envoy 6 May 1856 29 January 1857
Pavel Kiselyov Ambassador 11 July 1856 15 September 1862
Andrey Budberg Ambassador 3 November 1862 10 April 1868
Ernest Stackelberg Ambassador 25 April 1868 30 April 1870
Grigory Okunev [ru] Chargé d'affaires 1870 1870
Philipp von Brunnow Ambassador (nominal) 21 May 1870 28 November 1870
Source: Diplomats of the Russian Empire- France[10]

Representatives of the Russian Empire to the French Third Republic (1871 – 1917)[edit]

Name Image Title Appointment Termination Notes
Nikolay Orlov Ambassador 11 December 1871 8 February 1884
Arthur von Mohrenheim Ambassador 8 February 1884 18 November 1897
Lev Urusov [ru] Ambassador 19 November 1897 1904
Aleksandr Nelidov Ambassador 1904 5 September 1910
Alexander Izvolsky Ambassador 1910 3 March 1917
Source: Diplomats of the Russian Empire- France[10]

Representatives of the Russian Provisional Government to the French Third Republic (1917)[edit]

Name Image Title Appointment Termination Notes
Alexander Izvolsky Ambassador March 1917 1917
Matvey Sevastopulo Chargé d'affaires 1917 1917
Vasily Maklakov Ambassador 1917 26 October 1917 (unaccredited after the October Revolution)

Representatives of the Soviet Union to the Republic of France (1924–1991)[edit]

Name Image Title Appointment Termination Notes
Leonid Krasin Plenipotentiary 14 November 1924 30 October 1925
Christian Rakovsky Plenipotentiary 30 October 1925 21 October 1927
Valerian Dovgalevsky Plenipotentiary 21 October 1927 14 July 1934
Marcel Rosenberg Chargé d'affaires 1931 September 1934
Vladimir Potemkin Plenipotentiary 25 November 1934 4 April 1937
Yakov Surits Plenipotentiary 4 April 1937 29 March 1940
Aleksandr Bogomolov [ru] Plenipotentiary (before 9 May 1941)
Ambassador (after 9 May 1941) 		29 March 1940 30 June 1941
Aleksandr Bogomolov [ru] Representative to the French Committee of National Liberation until 23 October 1944
Ambassador after 23 October 1944 		21 September 1943 25 March 1950
Aleksey Pavlov [ru] Ambassador 25 April 1950 7 July 1953
Sergey Vinogradov [ru] Ambassador 7 July 1953 24 March 1965
Valerian Zorin Ambassador 24 March 1956 18 September 1971
Peter Abrassimov Ambassador 18 September 1971 9 April 1973
Stepan Chervonenko Ambassador 3 May 1973 20 January 1983
Yuli Vorontsov Ambassador 20 January 1983 19 June 1986
Yakov Ryabov [ru] Ambassador 19 June 1986 23 May 1990
Yuri Dubinin Ambassador 23 May 1990 25 December 1991
Source: Reference History of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union[13]

Representatives of the Russian Federation to France (1991 - present)[edit]

Name Image Title Appointment Termination Notes
Yuri Ryzhov Ambassador 4 January 1992 18 December 1998
Nikolay Afanasevsky Ambassador 4 January 1992 20 February 2002
Aleksandr Avdeyev Ambassador 21 February 2002 16 March 2007
Alexander Orlov [ru] Ambassador 14 October 2008 23 October 2017
Aleksey Meshkov [ru] Ambassador 23 October 2017
Source:[12][14][15][16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Посольство Российской Федерации во Франции" (in Russian). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Генеральное консульство России в Страсбурге" (in Russian). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Генеральное консульство Российской Федерации в Марселе" (in Russian). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Russian Honorary Consulate in Lyon, France". embassypages.com. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Russian Honorary Vice Consulate in Biarritz, France". embassypages.com. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  6. ^ "Алексей Юрьевич МЕШКОВ" (in Russian). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Консульство" (in Russian). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  8. ^ Christopher Kenneth (September 2010). "Russia and France marking a special year in special diplomatic relations". The Russia Corporate World. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
  9. ^ a b c d "Franco-Russian relations" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Vitaliy Solovyev. "France (Residence in Paris)" (in Russian). Retrieved 2011-01-30.
  11. ^ "Franco-Russian Alliance" (in Russian). Soviet Historical Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
  12. ^ a b Alexander Bocharnikov. "Alexander Orlov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Russia to the French Republic" (in Russian). Retrieved 2011-01-30.
  13. ^ "Authoritative representation – the USSR Embassy in France" (in Russian). Retrieved 2011-01-30.
  14. ^ "Alexander A. Avdeev" (in Russian). Retrieved 2011-01-30.
  15. ^ "Yuri Ryzhov" (in Russian). Presidium of Russian Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
  16. ^ "The Russian ambassador to Poland Nikolai Afanasievsky died in Warsaw" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
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