McFaul sworn in as ambassador to Russia: “The reset is not over”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton swore in Mike McFaul as the U.S. ambassador to Russia at a ceremony on Teusday at the State Department, where McFaul defended and pledged to continue the administration’s U.S.-Russia reset policy.

"This is a good day for us all — for the United States, which is sending an absolutely top-notch emissary to Moscow, and for our partners in Russia…. And for Mike and his family, it will be an adventure," Clinton said, standing in front of a packed audience of diplomats, officials, experts, and journalists in the State Department’s elegant Benjamin Franklin ballroom.

"This administration has placed a particular emphasis on working together with Russia, one of the most complex and consequential relationships we have with any nation in the world…. And I think it’s fair to say we have a lot to show for that effort," she said.

Clinton highlighted several achievements of the reset policy, including the New START agreement, the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement, the 1-2-3 Agreement for Civil Nuclear Cooperation, expanding supply routes into Afghanistan, and working on Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization.

Clinton recounted the story of how the United States informed Russia that McFaul would be the ambassador, which was different from the usual diplomatic notification.

"When President [Barack] Obama saw President [Dmitry] Medvedev at the G-8 summit in Deauville [France] in May, he simply said, ‘I’m planning to nominate Mike to be the next ambassador to Russia.’ And President Medvedev responded immediately with a tone full of respect, ‘Of course. He’s a tough negotiator,’" Clinton recounted.

She also said she expects to hear stories about McFaul’s jam sessions in Moscow when members of his band come to visit.

"And I’m even told there may be a few rock and roll sessions when Mike’s band mates from The Pigs visit Moscow. And it’s not an agricultural issue, ambassador. I don’t think they’ll need to be quarantined with their instruments," Clinton joked.

In his remarks, McFaul also defended the reset policy and thanked his family for moving with him to Moscow instead of returning to their home in Palo Alto, California, as had been planned.

"I was planning on going home and so were my sons, but Secretary Clinton and President Obama thought otherwise, because the reset was not completed last summer, nor is it over now, as some are saying. On the contrary, today we’re on to the next, more complex phase, when the alignment of our interests and values is neither simple nor easy," McFaul said. "On to the next adventure. Russia, here we come!"

Several senior Obama administration officials from both the State Department and the National Security Council, where McFaul had been serving as senior director for Russia since 2009, attended the event. They included White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, the NSC’s Denis McDonough, Ben Rhodes, and Liz Sherwood-Randall, and the ambassadors of Russia, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Romania, Poland, Kyrgyzstan, and many others.