US Ambassador to Help Putin

High-ranking sources of Vremya Novostey confirm that the 61-year-old Russian Ambassador to the United States Yuri Ushakov will become the deputy head of the government apparatus of Sergei Sobyanin, and in fact a foreign policy adviser to Vladimir Putin. It is expected that his duties will be similar to those performed by his assistant Sergei Prikhodko when Putin was president. In the absence of official decrees, Russian political scientists have compiled a list of likely candidates to replace Ushakov in Washington.

The list was topped by the current curator of the American region and chief negotiator of the Russian Foreign Ministry on strategic stability and security, 57-year-old Sergei Kislyak. This very cautious diplomat, not very fond of the press, was also tipped for the post of ambassador to France, vacated due to the appointment of Alexander Avdeev as minister of culture. The list also includes the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, 53-year-old Alexander Grushko, who is responsible for relations with NATO and Europe, and the aforementioned 51-year-old Sergei Prikhodko. The fact that Putin, as prime minister, is strengthening his apparatus by attracting advisers on international affairs has once again raised the question of where Russia's foreign policy will be shaped. A meeting between President Dmitry Medvedev and Russian ambassadors abroad can bring clarity. Usually they come to such traditional meetings in Moscow once every two years, and if they follow the schedule, they should arrive in June.

Ivan SOLOVIEV