List of ambassadors of Russia to Canada

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Canada

Emblem of the Russian Foreign Ministry

Incumbent
Oleg Stepanov [ru]

since 9 March 2021

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Embassy of Russia in Ottawa
Style| His Excellency
The Honourable
Reports to| Minister of Foreign Affairs
Seat| Ottawa
Appointer| President of Russia
Term length| At the pleasure of the President
Formation| 1942
First holder| Fedor Tarasovich Gusev
Website| Embassy of Russia in Ottawa

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Canada is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada.

The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Embassy of Russia in Ottawa. There are Consulate Generals in Montreal and Vancouver, and honorary consuls in Edmonton, St. John's, Windsor and Vancouver.[1] Russian interests in Canada are also represented by a trade mission based in Ottawa, and a representative of the Federal Agency of Fisheries [ru] in Halifax.[2][3]

The post of Russian Ambassador to Canada is currently held by Oleg Stepanov [ru], incumbent since 9 March 2021.[4]

## History of diplomatic relations

[edit]

Main article: Canada–Russia relations

Prior to 1917, the Russian Empire maintained consular services in the Dominion of Canada, then part of the British Empire. By the time of the fall of the Tsarist government in 1917, there were consulates in Montreal, Halifax, and Vancouver.[5] These did not recognise, and were not accredited by, the Soviet state, but continued to function until the late 1920s, funded by the Canadian government to deal with the large number of White émigrés who began to settle in the country.[5]

Diplomatic relations at the mission level between the Soviet Union and Canada were first established on 12 June 1942.[6] This was during the Second World War, when Canada and the Soviet Union were part of the allies. The first envoy, Fedor Tarasovich Gusev, was appointed on 30 July 1942, and presented his credentials on 21 October that year.[7] Gusev left the post on 12 August 1943, and in November that year the missions were upgraded to embassies.[7] Relations cooled significantly after the war, with the Gouzenko Affair and subsequent Kellock–Taschereau Commission in 1946 resulting in increasingly hostile communications.[8] Both sides withdrew their ambassadors that year, and representation was thereafter by charge d'affaires following until 1953.[7][8] With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet ambassador, Richard Ovinnikov [ru], continued as representative of the Russian Federation until 1992.[7]

## List of representatives (1942 – present)

[edit]

The embassy of Russia in Ottawa

### Representatives of the Soviet Union to Canada (1942 – 1991)

[edit]

Name  | Title  | Appointment  | Termination  | Notes

|
|
|
|

Fedor Gusev | Envoy | 30 July 1942  | 12 August 1943  |
Georgy Zarubin | Ambassador | 23 March 1944  | 28 September 1946  |
Nikolai Belokhvostikov [ru] | Charge d'affaires | 1946  | 1949  |
Leonid Teplov [ru] | Charge d'affaires | 1949  | 1953  |
Dmitry Chuvakhin [ru] | Ambassador | 25 August 1953  | 26 October 1958  |
Amazasp Arutyunyan [ru] | Ambassador | 26 October 1958  | 20 February 1963  |
Ivan Shpedko [ru] | Ambassador | 20 February 1963  | 18 October 1968  |
Boris Miroshnichenko [ru] | Ambassador | 18 October 1968  | 1 June 1973  |
Alexander Yakovlev | Ambassador | 1 June 1973  | 29 October 1983  |
Aleksei Rodionov | Ambassador | 31 October 1983  | 30 October 1990  |
Richard Ovinnikov [ru] | Ambassador | 30 October 1990  | 25 December 1991  |

### Representatives of the Russian Federation to Canada (1991 – present)

[edit]

Name  | Title  | Appointment  | Termination  | Notes

|
|
|
|

Richard Ovinnikov [ru] | Ambassador | 25 December 1991  | 10 February 1992  |
Alexander Belonogov | Ambassador | 10 February 1992  | 6 January 1998  |
Vitaly Churkin | Ambassador | 26 August 1998  | 5 June 2003  |
Georgiy Mamedov | Ambassador | 5 June 2003  | 24 October 2014  |
Aleksandr Darchiev [ru] | Ambassador | 24 October 2014[9][10] | 11 January 2021  |
Oleg Stepanov [ru] | Ambassador | 9 March 2021  |  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Consular Divisions". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 24 September 2019.
2. ^ "Trade Representative Office". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 24 September 2019.
3. ^ "Representative for the Russian federal Agency for Fisheries (Halifax)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 24 September 2019.
4. ^ "Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 09.03.2021 № 138 "О Чрезвычайном и Полномочном После Российской Федерации в Канаде"" (in Russian). Kremlin.ru. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
5. ^ a b "Records of Imperial Russian Consulates in Canada, 1898-1922" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. 1992. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
6. ^ "Bilateral relations". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 24 September 2019.
7. ^ a b c d "Миссия - Посольство СССР в Канаде" (in Russian). knowbysight.info. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
8. ^ a b Black, J. L.; Black, Naomi (1998). Canada in the Soviet Mirror: Ideology and Perception in Soviet Foreign Affairs, 1917-1991. McGill–Queen's University Press. pp. 175–176. ISBN 9780886293390.
9. ^ "AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO CANADA: Alexander N. DARCHIEV". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 24 September 2019.
10. ^ "Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 24.10.2014 г. № 679" (in Russian). Kremlin.ru. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* "Embassy of the Russian Federation to Canada". canada.mid.ru. Retrieved 24 September 2019.

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