Berlin.
Ambassador in Moscow is the most difficult diplomatic job in the world. How Count Lambsdorff is preparing – and what he thinks of Putin.
German Ambassador in Russia: There is probably none at the moment difficult diplomatic job as the representation in Moscow. Speaking plainly without smashing porcelain is the job. Staying in touch with President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in the middle of the Ukraine war is a Herculean political task.
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff (FDP) is sitting on the terrace of a café on Berlin’s Hausvogteiplatz on a cool May morning. He wears a green corduroy jacket and a blue tie with green dots. When he thinks about his future task, he quickly turns to another, equally sensitive period – the Cold War and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who was Foreign Minister from 1974 to 1992.
“Genscher was involved with the Soviet foreign minister at the time Andrej Gromyko to do, whose nickname was ‘Mister Njet’,” says Lambsdorff. Gromyko, who often drove Western politicians to despair with a sagging mouth and stony expression, headed the USSR’s Foreign Ministry for almost 30 years. “Genscher’s philosophy was: If we let the thread of conversation break, then we don’t notice if anything changes. That’s how I see it too.”
Genscher’s philosophy was: “Don’t let the thread of the conversation break off”.
Lambsdorff doesn’t think much of “sharp-edged rhetoric”. “I see my task in communicating to the Russian side unequivocally but diplomatically how the federal government sees things,” he said, formulating his future political balancing act in Moscow.
The nephew of the former Federal Minister of Economics and FDP leader Otto Graf Lambsdorff didn’t always sound so gentle. As deputy FDP parliamentary group leader with a focus on foreign policy, he often sat on German talk shows and represented pointed positions. At the beginning of December, he demanded that Germany, in association with partners from NATO or the EU, also Battle tanks to Ukraine can deliver. The federal government does not support Kiev as much as it could.
As early as September 2020, Lambsdorff called the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline “a geopolitical stupidity and a diplomatic debacle”. The ambassador-designate’s rhetoric sounds much smoother today.
In the winter of 1996, the young diplomat studied Russian for two months in Novosibirsk
The move to Moscow is scheduled to take place in the summer. Lambsdorff prepares for his assignment by reading extensively. “There are excellent books on Russian history. Karl Schlögel, Orlando Figes or Simon Sebag Montefiore are always worthwhile,” he emphasizes. In addition, he seeks dialogue with experts. “I talk a lot to scientists and experts from think tanks and universities. I will also go to Brussels to the EU and NATO,” adds Lambsdorff. “In view of the complicated situation in Russia, I want to collect ideas.”
The 56-year-old almost ended up on the Moskva. In the winter of 1996, the young diplomat studied Russian for two months in Novosibirsk. “In 1997 I was intended to be the economic attaché for the German embassy in Moscow, but Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel then brought me into his team in Bonn,” explains Lambsdorff. “My Russian therefore has to be restored first. But I definitely want to consolidate it. From 2003 to 2004 he worked as a country officer for Russia at the Federal Foreign Office.
“I’m not afraid of a glass of vodka either”
Lambsdorff has kept his love of Russian cuisine. He likes to eat borscht, sakuski and pelmeni. “Hardly anyone knows that the Russians also have very decent wine,” he says. “I don’t shy away from a glass of vodka either.”
One of his role models is Ruediger von Fritsch, the former German ambassador in Moscow. Lambsdorff still remembers a briefing that von Fritsch gave to a delegation of FDP members of the Bundestag in 2018. “Von Fritsch provided a sympathetic view of Russia and at the same time had a crystal-clear analytical view of the policies of the Russian government,” enthuses Lambsdorff.
Lambsdorff: “There is no sign that the system is shaking Putin”
When Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) made the offer for Moscow to Lambsdorff, two things went through his mind. “First of all, a certain gratitude that the minister trusts me. Second, the idea that a story continues,” he says. Lambsdorff’s father was from 1982 to 1985 head of the cultural department at the German Embassy in Moscow. “That’s why I often visited Moscow as a teenager in the early 80s.”
Lambsdorff has no illusions about “Russian destabilization attempts” such as influencing elections or cyber attacks. “Against this background, we must make it clear that political cooperation is extremely difficult on such a basis,” emphasizes the ambassador-to-be. “That doesn’t mean that you can’t make technical agreements in individual cases – for example the nuclear deal with Iran, grain exports from Ukraine or climate protection.”
He does not expect the Russian president to be overthrown anytime soon. “There is no sign that Putin’s system is shaking. It seems pretty stable,” he concludes. Lambsdorff’s appointment is likely to be viewed with mixed feelings in the Ukraine. “I would advise everyone not to expect Ukraine’s hasty accession, based on the experience of the last major EU enlargement round. So it will take time.”
Ukraine war – background and explanations for the conflict
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