1 The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign ...

Q: Well, now, when you were there, what was the role of the Soviet embassy? Were they
trying to ...
MILLER: Russian.
Q: I mean the Russian embassy. What were your relations, and was the feeling at that
time that they were trying to bring Ukraine back into the fold?
MILLER: Yes, I made it a point to spend considerable time with the Russian ambassador,
the two ambassadors that were there when I was in Kyiv. The first was a man named
Shmolyakov, who was a Ukrainian by birth. We became good friends. His wife was very
pleasant, and he and his family were courteous and welcome. We did a lot of things
together. He was very sympathetic to Ukraine. He was in an interesting position. The
“near abroad” policy of Russia that Ukraine should be a part of Russia was certainly
something he believed in, but the intensity of his Ukrainian nationalist feeling any
sympathy perhaps was even stronger.
Our physical presence, in the form of many frequent visits by our leaders from President
Clinton and Vice President Gore on down – members of Congress, prominent figures
from the private world, overwhelmed anything that the Russians were doing. This
personal effort by our national leadership made a huge difference, and we had a
tremendous influence as a result. Initially, the Ukrainian government was completely in
congruence with us on arms control, and sort of our discussions were very helpful to each
other, and we did a lot together.
Yuri Dubinin was sent from Moscow to attempt to lessen American influence. There was
great concern in Moscow that the Americans were too influential in Kyiv, that I was too
influential, and that this massive personal presence of Americans should be countered.
Yuri Dubinin, had been ambassador here in Washington during the Gorbachev
perestroika era. Dubinin was a very polished diplomat, five or 10 years younger than
Anatoly Dobrynin who had served for 23 years in Washington during the Cold War.
Dubinin had also served in Madrid and Paris. He was very intelligent, adroit and
adaptable. We were good friends in Washington. I had done many exchanges of officials
and prominent citizens from our respective countries, things with his help when I was
president of the American Committee on U.S.-Soviet Relations, and when he was
involved in bringing cultural groups and prominent Soviet officials to the United States. I
recall our working together successfully to get the Donetsk Ballet troupe into the United
States for performances in Baltimore and Washington in the face of very complicated visa
and financial problems. The visit of the Donetsk Ballet was a great initial success.
During the time Dubinin was ambassador in Washington, Andrei Sakharov, in 1988,
came on his first trip to the United States after being released from exile in Gorky by
Gorbachev. Sakharov and his wife, Elena Bonner came for lectures at the Academy of
Sciences, dinner at Ted Kennedy’s house and visits to the Hill. There were human rights
protests outside the Soviet Embassy. As I was one of the hosts for his visit to the United
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