Andrey Gromyko Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. Andrei Gromyko: biography and personal life

He communicated brilliantly in English with the highest officials of world politics, but until the end of his days he spoke Russian with a characteristic soft-rustling Belarusian accent. On July 18, 1909, Andrey Gromyko was born, who spent almost half a century in the diplomatic service, of which 28 years - as a minister.

Andrei Andreevich Gromyko, a native of the Gomel village with the wonderful name Starye Gromyki, had a noble origin, according to a number of sources - from the impoverished Belarusian gentry. But in all the questionnaires he firmly wrote “from the peasants”, as in fact at the time of birth he was. He indicated his nationality as “Russian” (moreover, he even called the city of Gomel “old Russian”), although he spoke with a strong Belarusian accent until the end of his life.

In education, he went along the line of agricultural economics, at the age of 27 he defended his dissertation, became a senior researcher at the Research Institute of Agriculture, then moved to the Institute of Economics of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In the late 1930s, an educated, foreign-language native "from the peasantry" was noticed and sent to work in the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs.

Career "foreign affairs" turned out to be swift. In 1939, Gromyko joined the people's commissariat, in 1943 he was already ambassador to the United States, and since 1946 he was the permanent representative of the USSR to the UN Security Council.

During this period, Gromyko played a serious role in the emergence and formation of UN institutions, he became one of the "godfathers" of this organization.

Then, after serving briefly as ambassador to Great Britain, Gromyko was deputy minister of foreign affairs. In 1957, he became head of the Foreign Ministry and remained in this post until 1985. In essence, Soviet diplomacy during the Cold War is Gromyko's diplomacy.

In the West, he was called "Mr. No." It is generally accepted that a diplomat should not rudely refuse the offers of a counterpart, one must be able to smooth out the refusal and leave room for maneuver.

There is an old anecdote: “If a diplomat says “yes”, it is “maybe”, if he says “maybe”, it is “no”, if a diplomat says “no”, then this is not a diplomat. In the second half of the 20th century, the ending of the anecdote was developed: "... this is Gromyko."

The style was indeed atypical for world diplomacy, although Gromyko did not become an "innovator." Another USSR Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, behaved in exactly the same way, from whom Andrei Andreevich learned to work. It was difficult to expect the gentle courtesy of Prince Gorchakov from Gromyko. In work, he was a 100% functionary, buttoned up, hard-working, efficient, scrupulous to the smallest detail and emotionally restrained.

But through this shell of the Soviet "iron chancellor" an extraordinary mind, amazing erudition and a subtle sense of humor made their way.

This was not just a foreign service technocrat. Gromyko was superbly educated, knew Russian and world literary classics, history, philosophy, and art perfectly well. Moreover, he received all this education on his own. In any case, it is impossible to be considered a national elite and represent it on the world stage without such a cultural basis, and Gromyko fully corresponded to his level.

German Chancellor Willy Brandt recalled that in a short personal conversation, Gromyko did not at all resemble the bronze statue of "Mr. No", this carefully cultivated image. In fact, Gromyko was "Mr. No" in these conversations as well. It was just that his tough image was replaced by a delicate intransigence.

There is nothing more erroneous than the prevailing in many assessments idea of ​​​​him as an obedient apparatchik, wrote about Gromyko, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who was the head of the German Foreign Ministry for exactly the same 28 years, - Gromyko was an outstanding personality, and he was strong personality. He had strong convictions. This made working with him especially difficult where our beliefs were diametrically opposed."

Immediately after the war, the American press noted the highest competence of the young Soviet diplomat who worked at the UN.

And already in the early 1980s, Gromyko received a resolution from the British press: "perhaps this is the most knowledgeable foreign minister in the world."

Gromyko despised "cavalry charges", he repeatedly said that a strong gesture in diplomacy looks good, but rarely leads to a serious gain.

His style was to latch on to his opponent and methodically pull concession after small concession out of him until their sum turned into the quality of a won position.

This behavior has been compared to a dentist's drill. And then this imperturbable man smiled sweetly and moved on to the secular part.

Working with Gromyko was very difficult, as interpreters and referents recalled: he could issue complex tirades lasting several minutes during negotiations, while demanding to translate with the preservation of all meanings and controlled the work of the interpreter by ear. US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once remarked that it's easier to shoot yourself right away than to negotiate with Gromyko without being properly prepared.

He will tear his opponent apart. He is like a heavy locomotive that goes in a given direction and, crushing under itself with the power of its argumentation, stubbornly strives to achieve its goal,” Kissinger said.

In 1985, Gromyko moved to the post of chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR - from a formal point of view, this was the highest state post in the Union. Beginning in 1977, after the death of Nikolai Podgorny, Brezhnev's closest associate, only general secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee were appointed to this position. And in May 1988, when Gromyko resigned for health reasons, he was replaced by Mikhail Gorbachev.

Gromyko perceived the “perestroika” that was taking place in the country with difficulty, believing that Soviet diplomacy had become too compliant, and the country received nothing for these significant concessions in the political and military sphere.

In July 1989, Andrei Gromyko died suddenly from the consequences of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. He was buried, by the way, against expectations, not in the Kremlin wall, but at the Novodevichy cemetery - so the relatives of "Mr. No" begged.

A. A. Gromyko for many years was a major figure in the Soviet state apparatus, was a diplomat, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union.

Origin. Education

A. A. Gromyko was born into a poor peasant family on July 18, 1909 in Belarus: the village of Starye Gromyki, Gomel district, Moshlev province. At the age of 13, he had to go with his father to work. At the end of the seven-year school, he left for Gomel, studied first at a vocational school, then at a technical school, and then graduated from the institute and graduate school in Minsk.

Carier start

In 1934, having passed the necessary security check at that time, Gromyko was transferred to Moscow along with several other graduate students. After he defended his Ph.D. thesis (1936), he was accepted as a senior research fellow at the Institute of Economics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he soon rose to the position of scientific secretary.

Diplomatic work

Since 1939, for many years, A. A. Gromyko was in the most important areas of the country's diplomatic activity. At first, he was in charge of the department specializing in American countries in the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. Soon, in the same 1939, he was appointed adviser to the USSR Embassy in the United States of America. From 1943 to 1946, he served as the Soviet ambassador to the United States and Cuba simultaneously. In 1946, he became a Soviet representative of the UN Security Council and simultaneously served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR.

Potsdam (Berlin) Conference

In 1945 (July 17 - August 2), the famous Potsdam Conference of the Heads of the Victorious Countries took place, where the USSR was represented by Stalin, the USA by Truman, Great Britain by Churchill and Attlee. Gromyko was one of the participants in this conference as part of the USSR delegation as its ambassador to the United States. In his last interview, which he gave to Vitaly Korotich for the Ogonyok magazine (No. 30, July 1989), Gromyko spoke in detail about this historical event. In particular, he recalled the episode when Truman, in a conversation with Stalin, casually announced that weapons of enormous, terrible destructive power had been created in the United States and that tests were already underway.

Thanked for the information and did not seem to attach much importance to it. But upon returning to Moscow, he met with Kuchatov. And soon the first tests of nuclear weapons took place in the Soviet Union. But if the US dropped its bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the USSR never used these weapons against people. Since then, the so-called "arms race" began, which changed the world for several decades.

In Moscow

In 1948, A. A. Gromyko was called to Moscow, where he was appointed First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and served in this position from 1949 to 1952. Then for almost a year he was the ambassador of the Soviet Union in Great Britain (1952 - 1953). Then, until the end of his career, he worked in Moscow, in senior positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1953 - 1957), and then the Minister of Foreign Affairs of our country (1957 - 1985). For several years he served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He retired on October 1, 1988.

Diplomatic contribution

A. A. Gromyko participated and then headed the Soviet delegation at twenty-two sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations. In the seventies and eighties in the West, many considered him "diplomat number 1". And this is not accidental. He played a huge role in the fate of Palestine in 1947, in the settlement of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, helped prevent the war between India and Pakistan in 1966, as well as the signing of many agreements and treaties with the United States in the period 1968-1979.

Gromyko represented the USSR in the development of the historic agreement between our country, Czechoslovakia and Poland with the FRG (1970-71) and the quadripartite agreement on West Berlin (1973). These documents formed the basis for the convening of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (1973). Gromyko's diplomacy contributed to ending the US war in Vietnam, as evidenced by the Paris Agreement signed in 1973. And the Helsinki Treaty (August 1975), in the signing of which A. A. Gromyko participated, was already a document not of a European, but of a global scale.

Gromyko died on July 2, 1989. His grave is in the cemetery.

A. A. Gromyko is a person whose name is associated with the golden age of Soviet politics. The favorite of Stalin and Brezhnev, not so revered by Khrushchev and Gorbachev, the diplomat did play a prominent role on the political proscenium of the 20th century. The biography of Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko, nicknamed Mister No in the West, is full of fateful moments. Partly due to his efforts, the Caribbean crisis did not develop into a nuclear Armageddon.

From the Belarusian hinterland

The story of A. A. Gromyko should begin with his father. Andrei Matveyevich was a descendant of an impoverished gentry family, by nature inquisitive and somewhat adventurous. In his youth, at the height of the Stolypin reforms, he ventured to Canada to work. After his return, he was recruited for the war with the Japanese. Having seen the world, having learned to speak a little English, the father passed on his accumulated experience to his son, told many amazing stories about military everyday life and battles, the life and traditions of overseas peoples.

After a turbulent youth, Andrei Matveevich returned to his native village of Starye Gromyki, located near Gomel (Belarus). He married Olga Bakarevich, they had four sons and a daughter. The first-born Andrei was born on July 18, 1909. The guy from childhood was accustomed to work. As a teenager, he worked with his father in the surrounding villages, was engaged in agricultural work, timber rafting. At the same time, he studied with passion.

Who are you, Mr. No?

You can often hear that Andrey Andreevich Gromyko has a different real name. In fact, he really has the surname Gromyko. However, in some regions of Belarus, representatives of individual families were given nicknames to distinguish different branches of the same genus. The family nickname of Andrei Andreevich, “passed on by inheritance” from his father, is Burmakov. But it is not reflected in official documents, but was used among fellow villagers.

Education combined with politics

Andrei Gromyko studied diligently, willingly. After graduating from the seven-year school, he moved from his native land to Gomel to continue his studies at a professional technical school. Practical knowledge was useful to the rural boy later at the Staroborisovsky Agricultural College, where the responsible Komsomol member becomes the secretary of the youth organization.

After graduating from a technical school in 1931, Andrei decides to continue his studies and enters the Minsk Economic Institute. Here, in the biography of Andrei Gromyko, an event occurs that predetermined his career. At the age of 22, he was accepted into the ranks of the Communist Party and immediately elected secretary of the party cell. A few years later, thanks to the recommendations of the Central Committee, Gromyko was enrolled as a graduate student in the highest scientific body of the BSSR - the Academy of Sciences. In 1934 he was transferred to Moscow, where a talented scientist defended his dissertation two years later, the topic of which was US agriculture.

Peasant Diplomat

The repressions of the late 30s finally "knocked down" the diplomatic departments of the USSR. According to witnesses, the Ministry of Internal Affairs felt a colossal shortage of personnel. This is evidenced by one of Andrei Gromyko's quotes: “I became a diplomat by accident. They could choose any other guy from the peasants and workers. Thus, Zorin, Malik, Dobrynin and others came to diplomacy with me.” Indeed, in 1939, a special commission headed by Molotov recruited as diplomats, in fact, random people who knew at least a little foreign languages ​​and had an impeccable worker-peasant origin.

rough diamond

However, regarding Andrei Gromyko, his enrollment as a diplomat can hardly be called an accident. He had already established himself as an enterprising party worker, a scientist well versed in the subject of the United States, and in addition he was fluent in English. Clever, young, well-built, with soft, intelligent manners, but a firm character, Gromyko became the favorite first of Molotov, and later of Stalin himself.

In 1939, Andrei Gromyko was assigned to take a fresh look at the actions and position of the United States regarding the impending World War II. He was sent to the United States as an adviser to Plenipotentiary Maxim Litvinov, and when the latter lost confidence, Gromyko became a full ambassador in 1943. The connections developed in those years made it possible to conduct a more productive dialogue between the two "poles of power" - the USSR and the USA.

Creation of the UN

Andrei Andreyevich, like no one else, is involved in the creation and gaining authority of such an organization as important for stability in the world as the UN. In his books, Andrei Gromyko describes in detail how much effort has been put into the formation of an interethnic body, the decision of which is still being heard by all countries of the planet.

In the period 1946-1949, A. A. Gromyko was the first Soviet representative to the UN Security Council. In negotiations with Western colleagues, a clear structure of the organization was developed, countries with the right of veto were identified. By the way, due to the frequent use of veto in matters of principle, journalists dubbed the politician Mister No.

Creation of Israel

One of the main milestones in the biography of Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko was his participation in the actual implementation of the plan to divide the Palestinian territories, which ultimately led to the birth of the State of Israel. After the start of the implementation of post-war plans to delimit the Palestinian Arabs and Jews (mostly emigrated to these lands from Europe), the world community faced contradictions that torn these peoples apart. As a result, the two-state plan is on the brink of collapse.

Despite the decisions of the young intergovernmental body - the UN - Great Britain (whose subordination was Palestine) and the United States, due to the outbreak of armed confrontation, sought to "freeze" the creation of new countries. Unexpectedly, Gromyko spoke in favor of recognizing Israel and Arab Palestine, expressing Stalin's point of view unconditionally. In his speech at the plenary session of the Second Session of the UN General Assembly on the eve of the vote on the question of Palestine on November 26, 1947, he confirmed and substantiated the intention of the USSR to support the "majority plan". According to the diplomat, the latter was the only possible solution to the Palestinian problem.

Thus, the talented politician was able to criticize the positions of Britain and the United States on the Palestinian issue so competently and reasonably that the population of these countries believed that the measures taken by the national governments were insufficient. In turn, the Jews, inspired by the moral support of the political colossus - the USSR, in 1948 announced the creation of Israel. Today, in this country, Gromyko Andrey Andreevich is considered a national hero, despite the subsequent tense relations between countries (but not peoples).

Politician with a capital letter

A. A. Gromyko was not an impeccable politician, but he was able to learn from mistakes. A serious puncture occurred in 1950. As first deputy foreign minister, he endorsed an agreement with China on the exchange rate of the yuan and the ruble without consulting the Kremlin. Stalin, who was zealous in international affairs, especially with regard to the PRC, "exiled" Andrei Andreevich for arbitrariness to London as an ambassador. After the death of Joseph Vissarionovich, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was headed by Molotov. He returned Gromyko to Moscow to his former position.

In 1957, Khrushchev appointed Andrei Gromyko Minister of Foreign Affairs. Nikita Sergeevich was distinguished by an explosive temperament, including in the international arena. The head of the Foreign Ministry had to show miracles of diplomacy in order to smooth out conflicts and misunderstandings that arise with foreign colleagues after Khrushchev's regular attacks.

Especially brightly the talent of the negotiator manifested itself in the Caribbean crisis. In 1962, Khrushchev ordered nuclear missiles to be secretly delivered to Cuba. Gromyko initially did not approve of this venture, considering it a gamble. The Americans learned about the plans of the Soviet leadership, which led to counteractions on their part. Andrei Andreevich's personal acquaintance with Kennedy and respect from some American politicians made it possible to maintain a dialogue in the most tense moments and not slide into a nuclear confrontation. A compromise was found: the USSR removed the missiles, while the United States refused to seize Cuba and closed part of the bases in Turkey. In total, the diplomat worked as head of the Foreign Ministry for 28 years - this is a record in recent history.

Brief biography of Andrey Andreyevich Gromyko:

• 07/18/1909 - birth;
• 1931 - admission to the economic institute;
• 1934 - transfer to Moscow;
• 1939 - joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
• 1939-1943 - adviser in the USA;
• 1943-1946 - Ambassador to the USA;
• 1946-1948 - plenipotentiary to the UN Security Council;
• 1949-1957 - First Deputy Foreign Minister (1952-1953 - Ambassador to the UK);
• 1957-1985 - head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
• 03/11/1985 - nominated by M.S. Gorbachev to the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU;
• 1985-1988 - Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces;
• 07/2/1989 - date of death.

Family

Mr. No's personal life has developed quite happily. As a student, the future diplomat met Lidia Grinevich in Minsk. They signed, in 1932 the young couple had a son, Anatoly, who later became a famous academician. In 1937 a daughter was born, who was named Emilia.

The role of Lydia Dmitrievna in the fate of her husband is difficult to overestimate. Perhaps, without her participation, Andrei Andreevich would not have advanced so far. A strong-willed woman followed her husband everywhere and remained for him an indisputable authority, to whose advice the politician listened. It is not in vain that she is compared with Raisa Gorbacheva, who also influenced the country's politics through her husband.

Name: Andrey Gromyko

Age: 79 years old

Height: 185

Activity: Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR

Family status: was married

Andrei Gromyko: biography

Foreign journalists recently compared the current Russian foreign minister to Andrey Gromyko. To which Sergey Viktorovich thanked and replied that this was a flattering comparison, because his colleague was "a great diplomat of the Soviet era." The motto of all his activities in this field was:

"Better 10 years of negotiations than one day of war."

And foreign colleagues also called Andrei Gromyko “Mr. No” for his intransigence and unwillingness to give up his positions in the negotiations. To this, the minister retorted that he heard “know” from foreign colleagues more often than they heard “no” from them.

Childhood and youth

Andrei Andreevich Gromyko was born in the Belarusian village of Starye Gromyki in July 1909. At that time, the village belonged to the Mogilev province of the Russian Empire. It is interesting that most of the inhabitants of the settlement had the same surname, but at the same time, each family had a family nickname.

The family of Andrei Andreevich was called the Burmakovs. They came from a poor but noble family, although Gromyko himself insisted on his Russian origin. And the official biography always indicated a peasant origin, although my father worked at a factory.

Some historians, referring to independent studies, argue that Andrei Gromyko's father went to work in Canada on the wave of Stolypin's reforms. After a hand injury, he returned home, but managed to learn English, which he spoke tolerably.

From the age of 13, the son began to work. His father took him with him to the rafting of the forest. He often told Andrei about his stay overseas and the First World War, of which he was a participant. In addition to Andrei, three more brothers grew up in the family. Two of them died on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, the third died from his wounds at home.

In 1955, when Gromyko, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, participated in negotiations with German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, he showed unprecedented firmness and intransigence. Later, he explained his position to his son by the fact that he felt behind his back the invisible presence of brothers who died in the war, who told him:

"Don't give in, it's not yours, it's ours."

Having successfully completed the 7-year-old at Starye Gromyki, Andrey went to study further. He graduated from a vocational school in Gomel, then an agricultural college in the Minsk region, where he was elected secretary of the Komsomol organization for his active position and leadership qualities. And at the age of 22 he was promoted to the secretary of the party cell.

In 1931, Andrei Gromyko became a student at the Minsk Institute of Economics. But he studied only 2 courses, because he was sent to a village not far from Minsk as a school director. Institute young director graduated in absentia.

Several of the most active young people, including Andrei Gromyko, were sent by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus to study at the graduate school of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR. Economists of a wide profile were trained here. As one of the best students, in 1934 he was transferred to Moscow.

Here he defended his Ph.D. thesis on agriculture in the United States and was sent to the Research Institute of the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences as a senior researcher. During this period, Andrei Andreevich Gromyko studied English in depth.

In 1938 he became scientific secretary of the Institute of Economics of the USSR Academy of Sciences. It was planned to send a young and promising scientist to the Far Eastern branch of the Academy.

Career

As Andrei Gromyko's contemporaries recall, he tirelessly engaged in self-education. He read works on economics not only by Soviet scientists, but also the memoirs of the tsarist Minister of Economics, which made an indelible impression on him.

In his free time, Gromyko took part in shooting competitions and even received the Voroshilov Shooter badge. He became so interested in military science that he thought of becoming a military pilot. But due to age, he could no longer enter the aviation school.

Later, in his memoirs, Andrei Gromyko did not say a word about the repressions of the 1930s. But it was the "purges" in the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs that turned the fate of the young scientist back and led him to the diplomatic field.

In 1939, Andrei Andreevich Gromyko was invited to the commission of the Central Committee of the party. Its chairmen selected candidates for diplomatic work from among the young communists. The main requirements are proletarian origin and at least some knowledge of foreign languages. A native of Belarus fit all the criteria. At that time, he was fluent in English-language literature, was educated, but at the same time captivatingly simple.

Diplomat

The diplomatic career of Andrei Gromyko developed rapidly. In the spring of 1939, he was in charge of the department of American countries of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. But already in the autumn he was called to and appointed as an adviser to the USSR Embassy in America. An informal mentor who was obliged to convey the missing knowledge to the young diplomat was Lieutenant General Alexander Vasiliev, head of the Foreign Relations Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

From 1939 to 1943, Andrei Gromyko worked as an adviser to the plenipotentiary representation of the USSR in the United States. And at the beginning of 1943, he replaced the USSR ambassador to the United States, Maxim Litvinov. He worked in this position until 1946. The most important events of these years were the preparations for the Tehran, Potsdam and Yalta conferences. Gromyko personally took part in the famous Yalta in 1945.

Since 1946, for two years, the diplomat served as the permanent representative of the USSR to the UN. It is noteworthy that Andrei Gromyko was the first Soviet diplomat to be entrusted with this post. In addition, from 1946 to 1949 Andrei Andreevich served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. In a Time magazine article, one of the experts noted Gromyko's "mind-boggling competence."

But in this post, the official made an unfortunate mistake: without the permission of the Kremlin, under pressure from the leadership of the State Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance, he put his visa on an interstate agreement with China on the ratio of the ruble and yuan.

For this, Stalin, who personally controlled economic relations with the DPRK, removed Andrei Gromyko from the post of first deputy minister and sent him as ambassador to London. Here the diplomat worked until the death of Joseph Vissarionovich. After Stalin's death, the ambassador was returned to the USSR and again appointed to the post of First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union.

In the winter of 1957, Andrei Gromyko became the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. He was appointed to this post after consultation with Dmitry Shepilov, who had previously headed this post and was transferred to the post of secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Khrushchev liked the characterization given to him by Gromyko:

"This is a bulldog: tell him - he will not open his jaw until he does everything on time and accurately."

Andrei Gromyko served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union for an unprecedentedly long time - 28 years. His undoubted achievements in this service include the most important and successful negotiations on the control of the conventional and nuclear arms race. On his account, the Caribbean crisis was settled and the most difficult negotiations with US President John F. Kennedy.

In 1970, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR made a great contribution to the development of the text and preparations for the signing of the Moscow Treaty between the Soviet Union and the Federal Republic of Germany on the "inviolability of borders" in post-war Europe.

Andrey Andreyevich had to conduct the most difficult negotiations in the USA and the UN, for which he repeatedly flew overseas. And he also had to prepare the first official visit of the President of the United States to the USSR in the history of Soviet-American relations.

The first visits to Italy were also made by Gromyko. He also established tense relations with this country - one of the main countries participating in the Nazi coalition.

And the Minister of Foreign Affairs became the first Soviet statesman to meet with the Pope. Their first conversation took place in New York, at a UN meeting in 1965. Then Paul VI received Gromyko 4 times in the Vatican.

Contemporaries called Andrei Gromyko the most experienced diplomat. His manner of negotiating caused admiration among his compatriots and considerable irritation from the opposite side. The diplomat was extremely tough in negotiations and was extremely uncompromising. He thoroughly prepared for the meeting, studying his opponent from all sides. He delved into the question so as to know the smallest details of the problem under discussion.

This allowed him to dominate the less experienced interlocutor. Gromyko conducted the conversation leisurely, the negotiations could drag on for long hours. Many diplomats could not endure many hours of grueling conversation and they were losing their nerves. Only then Andrei Andreevich pulled out his main trump cards.

After his death, becoming General Secretary, he appointed Gromyko First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Andrei Gromyko held this post from March 1983 until July 1985. And in January 1988, after his death, colleagues in the Politburo offered him the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

But Andrei Andreevich refused in favor, giving him a positive response at a meeting of the Politburo. According to some reports, later in an informal setting, he regretted his decision.

After the election of Mikhail Gorbachev as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union was taken by Eduard Shevardnadze. Andrei Gromyko was offered the ceremonial position of chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. But in October 1988 he was released due to health reasons.

Personal life

The future “patriarch of diplomacy” met his wife Lidia Grinevich in 1931, when he entered the Minsk Economic Institute. Lydia, like him, was a student of this university.

The personal life of Andrei Gromyko and Lydia Grinevich developed happily. It was a truly exemplary cell of Soviet society, where complete mutual understanding reigned. When the husband was sent as a principal to a rural school, his wife followed him. A year later, their son Anatoly was born. And in 1937, a daughter, Emilia, appeared.

The wife not only provided a reliable “rear” for her husband, but also corresponded to him. She learned English and often hosted receptions to which the wives of Western diplomats were invited.

The couple waited for their grandchildren - Alexei and Igor. Andrey Andreevich's favorite hobby was hunting. He also collected guns.

Death

Andrei Gromyko died in July 1989. Death was due to complications after a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. And although the emergency prosthetics operation was carried out on time, the body and the worn out heart could not bear the load.

They wanted to bury the "Patriarch of Diplomacy" at the Kremlin wall, but he himself bequeathed to bury him at the Novodevichy cemetery.

After the official's death, the question of burial on Red Square was never raised again, and no one else was buried in the Kremlin necropolis.

His name is known all over the world his professionalism is still legendary, his manner of conducting the most difficult negotiations is today compared to the tenacity of an asphalt rink. He became a diplomat by chance, but earned a reputation in such a complex and ambiguous field of activity exclusively by himself. This person - Andrei Andreevich Gromyko.

In the West, he was respected and feared. We knew that he would always consistently stick to his line, defend the interests of his country and not succumb to flattery and cheap bait. Only Gromyko, after yet another aggravation in the Middle East, could tell the formidable Israeli Prime Minister Golde Meir: « I am deeply disappointed with you madam". Or at a conference dedicated to the preparation of a peace treaty between Japan and China, to scoff at the position of Western states: “ You have to be blind not to see what a ridiculous position the organizers of the conference found themselves in, who put things in such a way that such states as, for example, El Salvador and Nicaragua, are participating in the decision on the question of a peace treaty with Japan, and China is not participating. It is clear that whether some of the states present at the conference sign a peace treaty with Japan or not, no one will feel either warm or cold. Another thing is if the agreement is not signed by the People's Republic of China».

It was said in 1951, even under Stalin. Even the influence of the famous Stalinist style is felt - brevity, sarcasm. Forty-two-year-old Gromyko was in the rank First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. But he already had a great diplomatic career behind him.

Someone calculated: if you add up all the international agreements he signed one on top of the other, you get a pile as high as Mont Blanc. Andrei Gromyko's neat autograph stands on the UN Charter, the Helsinki Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the agreements on START and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, on the documents of Yalta and Potsdam. He literally made history. The entire post-war world order- in many ways the brainchild of Gromyko.

Andrei Gromyko began his diplomatic career in American Department of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR. Then he was an adviser to the USSR Embassy in the United States. Nothing particularly stood out, nowhere especially and did not climb. Such an ordinary, ordinary performer of official duties. The then Soviet Ambassador to America M. Litvinov, apparently, did not prevaricate when he wrote in the description of Andrei Andreevich: “ Unfit for diplomatic service».

I was mistaken, oh, how mistaken Maxim Maximovich Litvinov was. Andrei Gromyko was even very suitable. Not much time passed and he replaced Litvinov as ambassador. Subsequently, even under Stalin, he became the first deputy minister of foreign affairs of the USSR. For almost 30 years he was a minister, held this position under five general secretaries: Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko and - for several months - under Gorbachev.

A rare capacity for work, the ability to move forward, while not particularly standing out, patience helped Gromyko pave his way from a remote Belarusian village to the very top of the leadership of the Soviet state. He was always careful, avoided stupid and dangerous steps. This is one (but by no means the only) factor in his longevity in politics.

He was born on July 5 (18), 1909 in the village of Starye Gromyki Mogilev province (now Gomel region). The entire local population had such a surname, so each family, as is often the case in Belarusian villages, had a family nickname. The family of Andrei Andreevich was called Burmakov. The Burmakovs went from a poor Belarusian gentry family, most of which, during the time of the Russian Empire, was transferred to the tax estates of peasants and philistines. By the way, an interesting document about the so-called Time of Troubles has been preserved, referring to the well-known events of the Russian-Polish wars of the early 17th century - the diary Marina Mnishek, the wife of False Dmitry I. There is a mention that the Muscovites, having risen against the invaders, killed, among others, Pan Nikolai Gromyko Jr. So, this Nikolai comes from that Skarbek-Gromyko, who later gave Andrey Andreyevich Gromyko. Then Moscow did not submit to Gromyko. This happened later, in the middle of the twentieth century. But this is a lyrical digression ...

In the official biographies, of course, nothing was said about the noble family of the future minister: it was precisely the peasant origin that was indicated, as well as the fact that his father, Andrei Matveevich, was a peasant who worked, however, at a factory. From the age of 13, Andrei already went with his father to work. In his free time he liked to read, mostly history books. Mother of the future diplomat, Olga Evgenievna Bekarevich, loved books and was able to collect a good library at home. In his free time, Andrey liked to have fun with friends, go fishing, climb into other people's gardens. Grandmother, when the neighbors complained, grabbed a broom and from afar (where can you catch a fidget here) cursed: “ I'll show you, you're such a democrat...» Andrei Andreevich himself later recalled this in his autobiography.

After graduating from a 7-year school, he studied at vocational school in Gomel, then - in Staroborisovsky Agricultural College. In 1931 joined the party and was immediately elected secretary of the party cell. In the same year he entered Economic Institute in Minsk. He studied full-time for only two courses, after which, in connection with his appointment director of a rural school not far from Minsk, moved to the correspondence department. In 1936 in Minsk, at the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR, defended his PhD thesis, after which he was sent to Moscow to Research Institute of Agriculture of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Three years later, Andrei Gromyko enters the diplomatic service. Peasant-proletarian origin and knowledge of foreign languages ​​were sufficient at that time to get a job in People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR. Head of Soviet diplomacy Molotov said about him: He is inexperienced but honest. This one won't let you down". And Gromyko did not disappoint. According to legend, Andrei Gromyko personally approved the candidacy Joseph Stalin. When reading the list of candidates for the diplomatic service proposed by Molotov, seeing the name of Gromyko, Stalin allegedly said: “ Gromyko... Good surname". Andrei Andreevich himself noted: “ I became a diplomat by accident. The choice could fall on another guy from the workers and peasants, and this is already a pattern».

But the main thing is that Stalin personally liked the young diplomat, who knew how to appreciate business and responsible people if they did not pose a danger to him. A Gromyko had an innate loyalty in relation to the number one person in the system. He remained loyal to both Joseph Vissarionovich and Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko, who alternately replaced each other in the highest state and party posts. In many ways, he was helped by the lack of deep knowledge of foreign policy issues among the leaders of the USSR after Stalin. They came to the post of "leader" from the party secretaries, did not know foreign languages, had little understanding of international issues, did not know the geopolitical situation, as they would say now, and felt that they simply could not do without such a professional as Gromyko.

At the same time, Andrei Andreevich himself, even on the slope of his life remembered Stalin exceptionally warmly:

« First of all, attention was drawn to the fact that he is a man of thought, a short phrase, a weighty word. Introductory words, long sentences or statements that do not express anything, he did not like. He did not tolerate when someone spoke at length and it was impossible to catch the thought, to understand what the person wants to say. At the same time, Stalin could be tolerant, moreover, condescending towards people who, due to their educational level, experienced difficulties in clearly formulating an idea. Looking at Stalin, when he expressed his views, I always noted to myself that even his face speaks. His eyes were especially expressive, he sometimes squinted them. It made his gaze even sharper. But this look was fraught with a thousand mysteries. Stalin's speech was characterized by a peculiar manner. He took accuracy in formulating thoughts and, most importantly, non-standard thinking».

Since then, Andrei Gromyko's career has steadily gone up: head of the Department of American Countries of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, adviser to the plenipotentiary representation of the USSR in the USA. He combined his activities as ambassador to the United States with a similar position in Cuba. During the Great Patriotic War, he worked preparation of the Tehran, Potsdam and Yalta conferences and even took part in two of them. His memory has preserved many interesting events. Here, for example, how he recalled the almighty Beria.

Potsdam Conference, July 1945

« In Yalta, where the conference of the leaders of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain was held, during a dinner given by the Soviet delegation in honor of the Americans and the British, Roosevelt turned to Stalin with a question:

Who is this sitting opposite Ambassador Gromyko?

Perhaps, before sitting down at the table, Beria did not introduce himself to Roosevelt. Stalin replied:

Ah! This is our Himmler. Beria!

I was struck by the accuracy of the Stalinist comparison. Not only in essence, but also in appearance, these two executioners were similar to each other: Himmler was the only one in Hitler’s entourage who wore pince-nez, Beria was the only one in Stalin’s entourage who was also hard to imagine without pince-nez.

I noticed that Roosevelt was obviously embarrassed by this comparison, especially since Beria heard everything that was said. Stalin's answer, of course, embarrassed the President. He didn't even know how to react to such a remark. Something similar to a guilty smile appeared on his face (why, they say, put the person in an uncomfortable position with his question).

Beria said nothing. This comparison confused him even more, and perhaps puzzled him. That evening, Beria, already laconic, was silent, kept stiff. Foreign guests did not seem to notice him.”

In 1944, Gromyko headed the Soviet delegation at a conference in the American Dumbarton Oaks, where questions of the post-war structure of the world were decided, including the question of creation of the United Nations. It is his signature that stands under the UN Charter, which was adopted at a conference in San Francisco June 26, 1945. Then he was the Permanent Representative of the USSR to the UN, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, First Deputy Foreign Minister, Ambassador to Great Britain.

In 1957, he was replaced as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Dmitry Shepilov. According to some reports, Shapilov himself recommended Gromyko's candidacy for this position, and Khrushchev heeded this advice.

By the way, when Khrushchev was just about to appoint Gromyko as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he was dissuaded: lack of initiative and stubborn. Nikita Sergeevich, who decided that he would personally deal with foreign policy, said to those who did not like Gromyko's candidacy: “ Well, what are you worried about? The post of secretary of the Central Committee is more important for us. And foreign policy does not depend on who will be the minister. Appoint a warehouse manager tomorrow, and he will draw such a line that you just lick your fingers. Because our policy is not made by the minister, but by the party».

Khrushchev did not like Gromyko, was going to eventually appoint his son-in-law to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs Adjubey. Then there were many rumors about Andrei Andreyevich's "inflexibility" and his inability to implement Khrushchev's "dynamic" policy. There were whispers about some unpleasant job descriptions that allegedly lie in the archives of the ministry and relate to his stay at the Washington embassy as an adviser.

As we remember, in Gromyko's reminiscences of Stalin one senses sincere admiration. And here He considered Khrushchev a fool and a clown. At one of the receptions, Nikita Sergeevich blurted out in the presence of Western diplomats: “ If the party orders Gromyko to sit down on the ice with his bare bottom, he will sit down!". Soon, however, it was the minister who became one of those party members who “ put bare bottom on the ice Khrushchev himself, sending the rude man into retirement. At the same time, during the famous incident at the UN, when Khrushchev pounded his shoe on the table, Gromyko was next to him. Khrushchev's trick was a complete surprise to him. But he even did not give a look and also began to beat with his fist to "support" the leader of the country. The West must have thought that Khrushchev's expression was a deeply thought-out move by Soviet diplomacy.

Brezhnev, especially in the first years of his reign, did not claim the role of unquestioning authority in foreign policy and was always attentive to the opinion and advice of such an experienced diplomat as Gromyko.

In 1973 Gromyko became a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the party. Since then, his weight and position have been increasingly strengthened. The position of the Foreign Ministry has also changed. Andrei Andreevich enjoyed the increasing confidence of L. I. Brezhnev, soon switched to “you” in conversations with him, established close contacts with the Ministry of Defense and the KGB, and in the end a situation arose when almost all issues of the foreign policy of the USSR were decided by the “troika” as part of Gromyko-Ustinov-Andropov. Correspondingly, the line of conduct that he ordered to adhere to the apparatus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in relations with the Central Committee and other departments also changed. There was no longer any talk of any signatures of the departments of the Central Committee under the proposals of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the contrary, in recent years, any intentions of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU were suppressed ( B. M. Ponomareva, V. V. Zagladina and others) to come up with any independent initiatives in foreign policy issues, especially on disarmament issues. (" Let them mind their own business - relations with the fraternal communist parties. They are entrusted with this».)

The Western press called Andrei Gromyko " Mister "No"» for intransigence in negotiations. Previously, the same nickname was Vyacheslav Molotov(Gromyko was his protege), who was famous for his toughness in defending the state interests of the USSR. At the same time, Andrei Andreevich himself said: “ They heard my "No" much less often than I heard their "No"". And colleagues mentioned that thanks to broad outlook and phenomenal memory Gromyko easily, at the same time politely and dryly, drove any interlocutors into a corner. The simple technique that Gromyko used all his life worked flawlessly in most cases: at the end of the conversation, he summed up the results and, using complex, confusing, at first glance, formulations, reduced all the agreements in the direction our country needed.

However, he never raised his voice. He himself boiled only once. When September 1, 1983 Soviet Air Force shot down a South Korean Boeing, which strangely entered our airspace, US Secretary of State J. Shultz, representing Moscow as an international robber, tried to tilt the course of the negotiations that took place in those days in Geneva, in his direction, Gromyko said: “ So there's nothing to talk about". The reaction of the Soviet minister stunned everyone.

« He stood up and across the table abruptly threw in his face: "If you do not want to talk, then there will be no conversation!" And Schultz gave in: "No, I want to have a conversation." And the conversation went according to the aspect that Gromyko wanted", - the translator recalled Viktor Sukhodrev.

With Gromyko it was difficult not only for the counter-partners, but also for the closest collaborators. He didn't accept answers. Don't know», « I do not remember», « May be". Being a workaholic, worked until late at night and did not allow others to relax.

« He started working at 9 am. At nine or ten in the evening he left the Foreign Ministry with a folder of papers and read them at home until one, until two in the morning. If he did not like any of the documents we had prepared, he would say: "You are lazy, you are lazy." Then he looked at his watch and said: "What time is it now? One in the morning? But you are still lazy"”, - adds touches to the portrait of the Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Valentin Falin, former Soviet ambassador to Germany. Throughout his political career, Andrei Gromyko allowed himself express one's own thoughts different from the point of view of the country's leadership. The press always noted his independence, emphasized his sharp mind and called him " a skilled dialectician and negotiator with great ability».

Foreign colleagues adhered to the same opinion. Already in the 80s in the West it was called " diplomat number 1». « At the age of 72, he is one of the most active and able-bodied members of the Soviet leadership. A man with an excellent memory, a shrewd mind and extraordinary endurance... Andrey Gromyko is perhaps the best-informed foreign minister in the world", - wrote the London newspaper The Times in 1981.

Somehow the English Foreign Minister George Brown suggested that Gromyko switch to “you” - in the Western manner, to call each other simply by name: “ Call me Joe, but what about you?"The answer was:" You can call me Andrei Andreevich».

According to his daughter, in the last quarter of a century of his life, he never set foot on the streets of Moscow. I saw the capital only from the window of the government ZiL with bulletproof glass.

Married Andrey Andreevich was only once - on Lydia Grinevich. She was born near Minsk, in the village of Kamenka. They got married in 1930, when she was 19, and he was not yet going to become a diplomat. She worked as a livestock specialist on a farm. Her husband called her Lidunchik and My House Secretary of State. Lidunchik was distinguished by her lack of taste and wore dresses of wild colors. Once, at a reception at the Turkish embassy in winter, when she saw a watermelon for dessert, she said to the translator: “ Go to the kitchen, ask them to bring a couple to our car.". At a reception on the occasion of the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Senegal Dutuchiyama asked his wife: And what are you doing?"Having learned that Madame Dututiyam graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy, Lidunchik joked:" What kind of science is this? Today it's one thing, tomorrow it's another". And she was right, because, compared with a livestock specialist, philosophy is a very inaccurate science. But Lidunchik liked the black "Dututiyamsha" very much. Saying goodbye, she even stuffed a few sweets from the vase into the guest's cocktail bag. Like all Soviet men, Andrei Andreyevich had a military ID. It was written: " Military rank - Private».

December 12, 1979 at a narrow meeting of the Politburo on the initiative Andropov, Ustinov and Gromyko a decision was made to entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. In general, the initiator was Ustinov. Andropov was cautious about this idea of ​​the Minister of Defense. However, under the influence of Ustinov, he changed his position. Andrey Andreevich was always with the majority, although he could not help but understand the dire consequences of this adventure. And his signature is under the document on the introduction of troops into Afghanistan. There seemed to be grounds for this. In 1979, NATO decided to stuff Europe with Pershing missiles, and then the Americans undertook to support the opposition in Kabul, threatening the interests of the Union not only from the West, but also from the East. Former National Security Adviser to the President of the United States Zbigniew Brzezinski recalled:

« President Carter signed the first secret directive against the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul on July 3, 1979. We didn't force the Russians to intervene, we just increased the possibility that they would do it themselves. This covert operation was a great idea. Her goal was to lure the Russians into an Afghan trap. The day the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter: "We now have the opportunity to give the USSR our Vietnam War."».

Gromyko played a key role in nomination of M. S. Gorbachev to the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, he negotiated with his supporters Alexander Yakovlev And Evgeny Primakov through his son, director of the Africa Institute Anatoly Gromyko. In exchange for supporting Gorbachev's candidacy, he was promised the post of chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Egor Ligachev writes in his memoirs that he was very surprised when at a meeting of the Politburo, without any preliminary discussion, Gromyko stood up and nominated Gorbachev for the post of General Secretary. A Viktor Israelyan, a Soviet diplomat, former Soviet ambassador to the UN, recalled that back in 1984, US Vice President Bush senior secretly told him who exactly would replace Chernenko in the Kremlin: “ When I informed Gromyko about this, he listened attentively to me, but I do not know whether this information had any influence on the position of Gromyko himself, who, after the death of Chernenko, was the first to propose to elect Gorbachev as Secretary General».

« I did not just speak at a meeting of the Politburo- Gromyko himself did not hide this, - and immediately, as Gorbachev opened the meeting, without hesitation for a second, he stood up and said: "I propose to elect Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev as the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU"».

After being appointed to a new post - Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, formally - the main position in the country, but which in fact did not decide anything, Gromyko left the Foreign Ministry building and left for the Kremlin. He didn't even say goodbye to his employees with whom I have worked for many years.

Dryness(a characteristic feature for the leaders of that time who went through Stalin's school) - this was also his inalienable quality.

After Andropov's death Gromyko was already trying on the post of general secretary, but put forward Chernenko. How this happened, Ustinov told the chief Kremlin physician - Academician Chazov: « The four of us met - me, Tikhonov, Gromyko and Chernenko. When the discussion began, I felt that Gromyko was claiming this position. You can't put it on. You know his character. Seeing this situation, I proposed the candidacy of Chernenko, and everyone agreed with me».

« Having become chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Gromyko began to travel around a large country, he knew little about the life of Soviet people. I was surprised - there are a lot of shops, but there are no goods in them. Having ceased to be a minister, he ceased to be needed. He spoke at every meeting of the Politburo, but often out of place. The world was changing, but Gromyko lived in the past", - wrote a well-known journalist Leonid Mlechin in his book " MFA. Ministers of Foreign Affairs».

The new political system, appointed at the 19th All-Union Party Conference (1988), did not provide for the post of chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. A new post was introduced for the head of state - Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. And it was supposed to take the leader of the ruling party.

Gromyko was going on a visit to Pyongyang. Gorbachev came to see him, they talked, the visit was cancelled. At the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Gromyko's statement was read with a request for his resignation.

When he was sent to retire, he asked: leave me a summer house, a car and one assistant - to write memoirs.

Perestroika and glasnost brought him into a state of shock.. Once, having seen how on TV the head of state was literally poured with slop, Andrei Andreyevich could not stand it.

« He stood up, crossed himself and said: "Thank God I'm not there"”, - says Anatoly Andreevich Gromyko.

Aneurysm of his abdominal aorta burst the night he finished writing his memoirs. Before the collapse of the country, whose interests Andrei Gromyko so long and sincerely defended, he did not live two years. At the request of the family, he buried at Novodevichy Cemetery, and not at the Kremlin wall. None of the new masters of the USSR came to the funeral of the patriarch of Soviet diplomacy ...

Anatoly Slanevsky, [email protected]

- Andrey Andreyevich, what is your strongest impression from your childhood?

When I was little, I once heard an unusual word from my grandmother. I don’t remember what I did wrong, but she shook her finger at me and said: “Oh, you are a democrat! Well, you will wait for nettles from me! This was before the revolution, under the tsar, and she, who knew from rumors that “democrats” were imprisoned, sent to hard labor, decided to scare me with this “terrible” word.

- You have met with almost all post-war US presidents. What meeting was the most memorable?

Back in 1945, at a conference in San Francisco, I happened to meet with John Kennedy. He was then a popular correspondent and asked me to give him an interview. Kennedy as a journalist behaved unobtrusively, posing questions in the form of his own reasoning. Then he paused and, rather, asked with his eyes: Do I have any comments on the issues raised in the conversation?» I liked this manner. Kennedy kept it in the future.

- Andropov, when he came to power in 1983, offered you to become not only the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but also the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, in fact, the head of the Soviet state. Why did you refuse then?

With President John F. Kennedy, Caribbean Crisis, October 1962

Because he knew: Andropov himself would soon want to become chairman of the Presidium. And not because of personal vanity, but because of the nature of the post of general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. This is a party, not a state post. The most important affairs of state, especially international affairs, would sooner or later require the signature of the first person in the Soviet Union.

- It is believed that it was you who nominated Gorbachev for the post of General Secretary. Is it really true?

Yes, at the March Plenum of the Central Committee, on behalf of the Politburo, I made a proposal to elect Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU and substantiated this proposal. The Plenum unanimously adopted a positive decision.

- Don't you regret that you helped Gorbachev get this position?

No, I'm not sorry. I supported not just Gorbachev, but big changes. We needed an active leader.

Did he live up to your expectations?

Not according to Senka was the cap of the sovereign, not according to Senka!

- In Western newspapers you were called "Mr. No". Is it because you used this word so often in negotiations and did not compromise?

They heard my “No” much less often than I heard their “No”, because we put forward much more proposals. They called me “Mr. No” in their newspapers because I didn’t allow myself to be manipulated. The Soviet Union is a great power, and we will not allow anyone to do this!

What do you consider your biggest personal success?

- Consolidation and inviolability of borders in Europe- this is the main result of my activity as Minister of Foreign Affairs. I think that these boundaries will remain. Of course, some changes may occur over the years. If European countries renounce the Helsinki Accords and begin to violate them, then territorial conflicts will begin on European soil, old coalitions will fall apart and new coalitions will form. War will come to Europe again.

- Did you have any enemies?

I have always had two opponents - time and ignorance of people who were lifted to the pinnacle of circumstances. Intrigues, denunciations, steps to each other in part of the party elite were held in high esteem.

- And who in the Kremlin, in your opinion, was a special intriguer?

Of those with whom I had a chance to work, in the first place I put Vyshinsky. He killed many people, but his life was also broken. He liked to push people with their foreheads Khrushchev. Brezhnev had no interest in intrigue. The removal of Khrushchev was not a conspiracy, it became a necessity, since Nikita Sergeevich lost control of himself, began to ruin countries and the party. Let's say, suddenly, violating the necessary procedures, he transferred Crimea to Ukraine.

- In your memoirs, you told many interesting facts from international life, but for some reason did not touch on domestic politics at all. Afraid to reveal state secrets?

You love big words, sensations, but I cannot put on public display what has been kept behind seven seals for many years. Generally, I think that the economic and especially the financial strength of capitalism surpasses ours. American capitalism has entangled the globe. Only we can resist this, and, perhaps, China, countries rich in raw materials and strong militarily.

- What forecast can you make about our relations with America?

The change in the balance of power in favor of the Americans allows them to make many moves. Most likely, they will demand unilateral disarmament from us in exchange for mythical help that will never come.

We still live in the conditions of leaderism, although it has appeared in a new guise. With collegiality in leadership, things are going badly. Old lessons are forgotten, new teachers are in vogue, often from the West.

What is your main life principle?

You can never be bored. Physically people die, but spiritually never. Gotta believe...