Gromyko protégé and arms negotiator remembered for the "Walk in the Woods"
On July 16, 1982, Kvitsinsky and Paul Nitze left the formal Geneva arms talks for an unofficial walk in the woods, sketching a compromise on intermediate-range nuclear forces. Both governments rejected it — but the conversation became Lee Blessing's Broadway play "A Walk in the Woods."
A leading Soviet Germanist and protégé of Andrei Gromyko, Yuli Kvitsinsky served on the front lines of Soviet diplomacy toward the West for over three decades. As head of the Soviet delegation to the Geneva INF negotiations from 1981, his famous "walk in the woods" with American negotiator Paul Nitze in July 1982, an informal attempt to sketch a compromise on intermediate-range nuclear missiles, became an iconic Cold War moment that later inspired a Broadway play. As Ambassador to West Germany (1986–1990), he helped prepare the "Two Plus Four" treaty framework for German reunification, and as First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1991 he oversaw European security affairs. After a post-Soviet hiatus, he returned as Russia's ambassador to Norway (1997–2003) and served as a CPRF deputy in the State Duma until his death.
Career Timeline
- 1959–1965Translator, attaché, third secretary, second secretary, USSR Embassy in the GDR
- 1965–1978Second secretary, first secretary, expert-consultant, deputy head, Third European Department, USSR MFA
- 1978–1981Minister-Counsellor, USSR Embassy in the FRG
- 1981–1986Ambassador-at-Large, USSR MFA; head of USSR delegation to Geneva nuclear arms talks
- 1986–1990Ambassador of the USSR to the FRG; candidate member (1986–89), full member (1989–90) of CPSU Central Committee
- 1990–1991Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR
- 1991First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR (May–September)
- 1997–2003Ambassador of Russia to Norway
- 2003–2010Deputy, State Duma (4th & 5th convocations); First Deputy Chairman, International Affairs Committee