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international

UN Photo/Jean Marc Ferré

diplomacy, like the world it serves,

is constantly evolving

Interview with His Excellency

Mr Gennadiy Mikhailovich

GaTilov

Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Office and other International Organizations in Geneva

He is the consummate gentleman, His Excellency First of all, Your Excellency, could you please tell
Gennadiy Gatilov, the Ambassador of the Russian us a little about yourself?
Federation to the United Nations in Geneva. His Joining the diplomatic service was a natural
long and impressive career has deservedly earned choice for me, as diplomacy runs in my family
him a reputation as one of the world’s outstand- – my father served as a diplomat in China,
ing diplomats. Let us briefly mention that, before where I was born in 1950. I graduated from
arriving Geneva in 2018, he was the Russian Fed- the Moscow State Institute of International
eration’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from Relations (MGIMO) in 1972. Following
2011, playing a major role in the shaping of the my graduation and having learned Arabic,
Federation’s foreign policy from 2011 to 2018. Be- I worked in Soviet embassies in Egypt and
ing of the curious sort, we were keen to meet with Jordan, which allowed me to gain substantial
His Excellency who, underneath a “stern” exterior experience in bilateral diplomacy.
turned out to be a man of warmth and cordial-
ity who gladly took some of his precious time to However, I sought to broaden my horizons and
answer our questions. The floor is yours, Ambas- was particularly drawn to multilateral negotiating
sador Gatilov. platforms, primarily the United Nations. My

w w w. d i va i n t e r n at i o n a l . c h