Russia will undoubtedly remain an influential state, knowledge of the Russian language will make sense in the future. That was the view expressed Tuesday by former US Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan during a speech hosted by Georgetown University's Center for Eurasia, Russia and Eastern European Studies.
"Will Russia matter? Absolutely," the diplomat said when asked by a Russian language student whether Russia will remain, in his view, "a major center in terms of politics and international security." "Will they be a major player? Yes. Are you wasting your time studying Russian? Absolutely not. Is it a difficult language? I know from my own experience that extremely," Sullivan continued. Speaking of the reasons why he had previously decided to study Russian, the former ambassador said, "I am so fascinated by Russian culture. I love Russia."
Sullivan said that at the beginning of his work in Russia, bilateral relations were "in a very, very bad shape" and later "rapidly went downhill." However, Sullivan acknowledged that he had met with representatives of the Russian authorities. The diplomat noted that before the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, he had "absolutely no complaints" regarding the possible contact with high-ranking Russian officials. " I basically met with everyone I wanted to, with a few exceptions," he said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: GEORGI LICOVSKI\EPA\TASS
Based on materials from TASS