When John Adams arrived in Moscow 200 years ago as the first U.S. ambassador to Russia, the second president and Massachusetts native kicked off a relationship that has, for two centuries, fostered scientific, economic and social growth for both nations.
Local lawmakers and Russian diplomats gathered at the State House yesterday to celebrate the bicentennial anniversary of the countries’ cross-continent relations.
“Today we are gathered to celebrate diplomacy,” said Gov. Deval Patrick. “We need to continue to set a worldwide example of diplomacy.”
Despite political tension during the Cold War, it was the two nations’ ability to communicate that prevented armed conflict from erupting, Patrick said.
In October 1962, another Massachusetts native, President John. F. Kennedy, used diplomacy instead of force, to diffuse the Cuban Missile Crisis, a near-calamitous standoff between the world’s two premier superpowers. After U.S. intelligence discovered Soviet nuclear missiles stationed in Cuba, Kennedy responded deftly, narrowly avoiding war by negotiating with Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev to remove the missiles.
Today, nearly two decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, Patrick said he looks forward to strengthening the relationship in the future, adding the nations will continue to work toward forging stronger economic associations.
William Burns, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, said though tensions have risen between the United States and Russia in the past, the countries have always maintained a connection that now stretches beyond government relations. Massachusetts and Russia work together to provide the Russian people with opportunities in education through different scholarship programs, Burns said.
In addition to educational assistance, ensuring the other prospers economically plays a large part of the relationship between the countries, said Speaker Salvatore DiMasi (D-Boston).
“We have the opportunity to benefit from trade relations,” DiMasi said. “We need to work together to continue to be leaders around the world.”
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