Vladimir Petrovsky

Vladimir Fyodorovich Petrovsky (Влади́мир Фёдорович Петро́вский; 29 April 1933, Stalingrad – 21 February 2014) was a Soviet and Russian diplomat, ambassador, professor in history, politician and writer.

He served as Deputy Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union under Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.

1957–1961:

MA, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, 1957

1961–1964:

LL.D, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, 1962

During October 1962 Vladimir Petrovsky worked in the office of Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko.

There were long periods of non-stop work in the Foreign Ministry building on Smolenskaya Square in Moscow to attend emergency meetings and action groups to resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis.

On 27 October 1962 the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepared a positive response to the US request for the withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba in exchange for US government's assurances on compliance with the territorial integrity of the island.

Vladimir Petrovsky later analyzed this intense period in his memoirs.

Vladimir Petrovsky was strongly involved in researching and drafting all the details of the Soviet delegation's position towards the Helsinki Process followed by the Helsinki Final Act (Helsinki Accords).

1964–1971:

1971–1979:

1972–1975:

Doctorate in History, Institute of international Relations and World Economy, 1975

It was signed during July and 1 August 1975 and became at the time a declaration of attempt to improve relations between the Communist bloc and the West.

The Helsinki Accords served as the groundwork for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

In 1978, he became a member of the Soviet delegation to the First Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Disarmament.

He was involved in working out the details of the multilateral machinery for disarmament and the rules for the Conference on Disarmament (CD).

1979–1986:

In 1979, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan the only possibility to communicate with the West on the diplomatic level were consultations on nuclear weapons nonproliferation.

1986–1991:

In 1986 Vladimir Petrovsky was appointment as Deputy Foreign Minister of the USSR and received the task to help promote the process later known as glasnost (openness) with an assignment to supervise the Press Department, while being also in charge of other areas in the Foreign Ministry.

Vladimir Petrovsky was among the specialists of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that were chosen to formulate the progressive concepts for the framework of the New Political Thinking.

Before announcing Perestroika in 1987, the Soviet government had done a multi-level research and analytical work accomplished by both the political and academical elite.

In 1988 Vladimir Petrovsky was part of the task force preparing the draft for the landmark address that Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev gave at the UN General Assembly on 6 December 1988.

1991:

In 1992 he became UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs in New York.

1992:

1992–1993:

In February 1992 Vladimir Petrovsky was appointed as the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs and soon become chairman of the drafting committee for the 'Agenda for Peace". He served in this position until March 1993 when he was appointed to become Director-General of the UN Office in Geneva. He strongly promoted better cooperation among the different UN agencies as well as with regional organisations and the host country Switzerland.

Throughout his long diplomatic career Vladimir Petrovsky strongly stressed the essential role that disarmament should play in the comprehensive approach to security in the world.

From 1993–2002 he was Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

During this time he was also Secretary-General of the Conference for Disarmament.

After his retirement from the United Nations, Petrovsky established the non-governmental organization Comprehensive Dialogue Among Civilizations (CDAC).

1993–2002:

1998:

2002–2010:

Vladimir Petrovsky died on 21 February 2014 after a long illness.

Mira Petrovskaya, his widow, lives in Moscow together with their daughter Lena.