Amb. Yuri Nazarkin Celebrates His 90th Anniversary

MOSCOW. MARCH 12, 2022. PIR PRESS. “It so happened that I had the opportunity to complete the process launched by my predecessors, and without at all trying to attribute their merits to my own account, I can nevertheless say that I consider the conclusion of the START Treaty to be the main achievement of my professional life. The realization of this is my reward for all those sleepless nights in the stuffy rooms of top-secret casemates, where the future Treaty was being forged,” – Amb. Yuri Nazarkin, a member of PIR Center’s Advisory Board, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USSR and Russia, Professor at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations.

Today, on March 12, Amb. Yuri Nazarkin, member of PIR Center’s Advisory Board, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USSR and Russia, Professor at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations, is celebrating his 90th anniversary.

Nazarkin’s services to Russia’s security and prosperity are hard to overstate. Yuri Konstantinovich devoted almost forty years of his life to serving the Soviet and Russian state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and later in the Russian Security Council. Candidate of Historical Sciences and Doctor of International Relations with a specialization in the history of disarmament, Amb. Nazarkin made an invaluable contribution to the development of a number of international treaties to limit or ban weapons of mass destruction. In particular, Yuri Nazarkin took part in negotiations that led to the signing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, and the Seabed Arms Control Treaty.

In 1989–1991, Amb. Nazarkin led the Soviet delegation in negotiations with the United States on nuclear and space weapons, which resulted in the conclusion in 1991 of the START Treaty. Yuri Konstantinovich shared his experience in the book “On Diplomatic Routine and Other Stories”, published by MGIMO, and more recently in an open-access article for “Russia in Global Affairs.”

At PIR Center’s expert seminar on the Soviet nuclear legacy held in December 2021, Amb. Nazarkin shared with the audience how Russia negotiated with Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan on their accession to START, commented on the challenges of positive control over nuclear weapons and the gradual transfer to Russia of the nuclear arsenal of the former Soviet Union. The proceedings will soon be available in Russian in PIR Center’s Security Index.

While living in Switzerland, which is the center of international meetings and negotiations in the field of nonproliferation, disarmament and security, Yuri Konstantinovich continues to promote Russian-American dialogue on nuclear issues. After retiring from civil service, Amb. Nazarkin worked at various times at the Geneva Center for Security Policy, the Geneva Center for Democratic Control of Armed Forces, the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations. One of Amb. Nazarkin’s recent papers on the future of Russian-American relations in the field of arms control is also available on PIR Center’s website.

In honor of Amb. Nazarkin’s anniversary, PIR Center is creating a special section on its website where Yury Konstantinovich’s main publications, a photo gallery and other important materials will be posted.

PIR Center wishes Amb. Nazarkin good health, inquisitive students and looks forward to further cooperation!