Skier Alexander Bessmertnykh: "I'm not a number, I'm a person!"

Three and a half years ago, a Kuzbass Alexander Bessmertnykh brought Russia a silver medal Olympic Games in Sochi. In March 2017, he again won silver, but already at the World Championships in Finland, and in May he began active preparations for the 2018 Olympics in South Korea.

On the eve of the first pre-Olympic training camp in Izhevsk, the skier met with the correspondent of the Kemerovo Newspaper. Over a cup of mint tea, Alexander Bessmertnykh admitted how he won his first championship, calculated how many kilometers a year he skis, and told what bedtime stories his daughter reads to him.

Credit skis and torn boots

- Sasha, how did you get into sports? And why did you choose skis?

In Berezovsky, apart from skiing, wrestling and barbells, there was nothing else in my childhood. I went everywhere, but over time, only skis remained. Why they? Father himself ran, well, I'm with him for the company. My childhood was in the nineties, when the whole country was in a fever. Thank you for your parents.

By the way, I won’t say when and how I started skiing. I was probably four or five years old. But I remember my first skis! These were "Bullfinches" - such cool, wooden ones.

- Are they still intact?

Yes, what is there! Even the cassettes were not preserved from the first competitions. Very sorry. At a young age, you think: oh, how many more there will be, those competitions! So a lot of things are lost, which were an indication that it is possible, having nothing, to give a result.

You know, I won my first national championship on boots that a friend sold me for 400 rubles. They had a hole in the toe, which I covered with plaster and ran on them.

- Seriously?!

There is nowhere more serious! You just can’t imagine what mentors sometimes go to in order to send an athlete to competitions. At one time, either the father or the coach sold a cow to the skier Vladimir Vilisov in order to buy skis for him. Most athletes experience this. With work to overcome.

- I think it seems to people from the outside that everything is much simpler ... I ran 15 kilometerslight - and a champion.

People don't try to understand the essence of the process. They show a picture - it's beautiful, but no one knows what is behind this picture. For the first serious skiing, my father had to take out a loan! But it was on them that I later won the world championship.

It was all over the place. Kruglov's father laid a medal in order to send his son to the competition ... This episode was later included in the film "Champions". It's great that this is somehow preserved in memory.

Now I understand that I also needed to collect something in memory of the sport. There is a dream, of course, to organize an exhibition of cups, medals and equipment at the ski base in Berezovsky. I hope we can do it all within two years. For now, you just want to relax. In a couple of years, the rest will definitely be longer.

- Is it in the context of retirement? Isn't it too early?

Yes, how early? I plan to run for two more years. And then ... further it will be seen: there is a result - we continue, no - we leave. It's scary, of course, because I can't do anything else - just play sports professionally.

In the ninth grade, I decided so and left school for college Olympic reserve because I realized that sport should become a profession. Higher education for an athlete is also a necessity. The sport ends sooner or later.

But study should be real study, and not "you are an athlete, you run - we put a test." I studied at Omsk University physical education. Seven years of teaching - thanks to them for that. But I know the profession not only in theory, but also in practice. It will help me a lot if I decide to go into sports administration after my career. After all, all my ideas are connected with the development of cross-country skiing in the Kemerovo region, but not in Kemerovo or Berezovsky, but throughout the region.

9,000 kilometers of track

- What number are you preparing for in the National Team for the Olympics?

I'm not a number, I'm a person! Numbering is not for me. We have the absolute leader of the team - this is Ustyugov, the rest tend to keep up. Vylegzhanin, Legko and Belov - if not disqualified - I'm sure they could fight on a par with me. Young athletes step on their heels.

Among the athletes who are predicted to receive awards at the 2018 Olympics, there are you and Sergey Ustyugov. How do you feel about such forecasts?

Honestly? I don't like forecasts. This year I came to the National Championships after the “fifty dollars” in Oslo, after the stage in Canada, where I took two podiums at the World Cup stage in the classical style, and I was greeted with the words: “Oh, what are you doing now! Oh!". At the “fifty kopecks” the medal was hung on the chest beforehand. I said: "As it turns out - it will turn out." As a result, he took 15th place. Well, don't go skiing! We didn't go, that's all.

Ahead - nine months of preparation. Of course, I want to win more than one medal in Korea, but no one knows what will happen in reality. I will try my best to give 100%.

- Did the disqualifications of athletes greatly affect the atmosphere in the team?

This is a working moment. A miner goes into the face without thinking about whether the coal will be sold or not at the market price. He goes to do his job and do it well. We also. It is clear that thoughts “what if not?” fly by, but they must be driven.

Did you see the track in Pyeongchang, where you have to run for a medal?

Only on TV! Normal track. Not Sochi, but quite. They are unique everywhere. But we will still go a week or two before the race, we will see everything in detail.

What will be the preparation for the Olympics?

Usually fees last 20 days. The first pre-Olympic training camp in Izhevsk will last 10 days, then examination in Moscow, treatment in Sochi or Belokurikha.

From June 13, training camps in Estonia will begin. This will be a small fraction of what we usually do. Every year we try to experiment - we need not only to show ourselves at the Olympics, but also to look for new moves, schemes. This time the coach suggested resting a little more. This does not mean “lying on the couch”, but driving 500 kilometers less than usual.

- How much is it usually?

The annual volume that we usually drive / run / ride is 9000 kilometers (Distance from the extreme western to the extreme eastern border of Russia. - Note by author). This includes rollerblading, cross country skiing. This is without a bike. It's funny, but about the same amount I drive a year in my car.

- Donated by the president? By the way, why didn't you sell it like other athletes?

Yes, because I would never buy such a car! I would take what is easier for myself. Someone did just that, but invested, for example, in housing, which he did not have.

- The 2016-2017 season turned out to be fruitful! What are your impressions of him?

Double. Something worked, something didn't. Of course, I wanted personal medals, because a relay race is a relay race. It is clear that the Russian team is very strong team, and, getting into it, you can be 99% sure that you will be with a medal. And the personal race is your race.

We were upset on the relay podium, because “silver”, and someone said: “Now the time has come when the Russian team is not happy with the second place.” This is a good sign - it means that we can be in the first place, we know how to achieve it.

Team Team, and the "cups" - apart

- Sasha, are you a superstitious person?

I? Absolutely not.

- That is, all the stories about athletes spitting over their left shoulder and getting up only from their right foot are a myth?

There are no superstitious people in cross-country skiing. There were races when I tried to "bring the good" from the previous ones, I tried to work out my own algorithm of actions. Nothing worked. Dropped this job.

- When it comes to the individual standings, in the Russian national team cross-country skiing is there any competition?

Our athlete Alexander Legkov said once: “What are you fighting among yourself? You are fighting other countries!” and I agree with him. Well, why should I fight with Ustyugov, if the track is full of other rivals who need to be beaten?

We have normal, good relations in the team. Everyone respects each other, there is no squabbling. To laugh it off, to pin it - yes. One day Legkov was preparing for a race with Chernousov. The weather is warm, and Chernousov has “cups” - special pieces for sticks so that they do not fall into loose snow - the wrong size. He asked Legkov: “Sanya, give me a bigger cup,” and he replied: “Well, no! We are friends in the room with you, and on the track it's every man for himself! Ilya found the devices, but if he hadn’t found them, I’m sure Sanya would have given them to him.

Sasha, I personally watched you play basketball and football, I know that you were engaged in boxing and hockey ... Are there any sports where you haven’t been yet?

Eat! It's curling (laughs). Simply because it is not yet available in Kuzbass. Will be - I will try myself in it. Everything is ahead. I love spending my free time active rather than lying on the couch. I love to walk with my child. Our pine forest is a wonderful place, and many don't go there, they don't even know that hares run around there. They sit at the computer and that's it. And I'm glad that most of the time I run, jump, and do not sit with the phone in my hands.

Tales of Polina's daughter

- How did the family adapt to the schedule of the dad-athlete?

I'm used to it! This is just a habit, a person gets used to everything. And I think my wife is a hero. I sometimes think that it's not good to spend so little time with a child. But I know many people who are at home all year round, but they go to work at seven - the children are still sleeping, come in at nine - the children are already sleeping, no communication at all. I don't know which is better in this situation. Due to the difference in time zones, of course, it is difficult to communicate with his wife and daughter. You don't know if you'll make it or not...

- Remembering what a difficult path you yourself have traveled, please answer, will you send your children to sports?

Already gave it away! My five-year-old daughter Polina is already figure skating. And not even three, but five workouts a week! In Kuzbass, this sport is young, it's time to develop it.

But I don’t build any ambitious plans: if she becomes an athlete, it’s great, if she doesn’t, then it’s necessary. Daughter goes to prep school, dancing, singing, figure skating… She is a versatile child. Many say: “You don’t give a child childhood!”, But is childhood really all about sitting at a TV or a computer? Childhood is activity, communication, emotions.

Sasha, are you a stern father?

Vice versa! I rarely see my daughter, so I allow everything. My wife Dasha is responsible for “strict upbringing” in the family, because the main part of it is on her.

My daughter and I love to read books before bed, like everyone else. We tell each other stories. Polina usually commands: "You tell me two tales and one - I tell you." She makes such funny mixes from Little Red Riding Hood and Kolobok!

Would you like to change something in your life?

I think I am a happy person. And it seems to me that the percentage of happy people on this planet is not so high. So I'm glad to be one of them. Globally, I would not change anything in my reality. I get high from my work and life - this is the most important thing!

Born on November 10, 1933 in the city of Biysk, Altai Territory. Father - Bessmertnykh Alexander Ivanovich (1907-1943). Mother - Bessmertnykh Maria Vasilievna (1908-1995). Wife - Bessmertnykh Marina Vladimirovna (born in 1954). Daughter - Bessmertnykh Maria Alexandrovna (born in 1961). Son - Bessmertnykh Arseny Alexandrovich (born in 1991).

Before leaving to study in Moscow, Alexander Bessmertnykh lived in Gorno-Altaisk, which at that time was the capital of an autonomous national region bordering China and Mongolia (now the Republic of Altai). Russian and Altai blood flows in his veins (his mother was half-Altai - a representative of an ancient people whose roots go back to distant Scythian times). Father, Alexander Ivanovich, worked as an engineer, factory director. In the first months of the Great Patriotic War, he went to fight and died at the front on March 8, 1943. The upbringing of 4 children, the eldest among whom was Alexander, fell on the shoulders of the mother.

In 1951, Alexander Bessmertnykh entered the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, specializing in international law and international relations of Western countries. Shortly after graduating from high school in 1957, he defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of legal sciences.

Even before graduating from MGIMO, which was an unprecedented case, the Immortals were invited to work at the USSR Foreign Ministry. He had to complete his studies at the institute and work in the press department of the ministry at the same time. The young diplomat quickly distinguished himself by his erudition, good knowledge of the English language, and also by the fact that he wrote several successful speeches for N.S. Khrushchev.

Well-known diplomat Yu.N. Chernyakov wrote in his book on the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the USSR: “In 1959-60, I was directly connected with him through service in the press department, in the group for working with foreign correspondents. business qualities, very good knowledge foreign languages, endurance and contact in relations with a very difficult contingent of journalists accredited at the press department ... In the future, long years working in the apparatus of the ministry, I had the opportunity to observe the professional growth of this one of the most capable and knowledgeable Soviet diplomats. Possessing a huge amount of international information and knowing practically all the most important problems of the foreign policy of regions and individual states, he specialized in Soviet-American relations, especially in negotiations between the USSR and the USA in the field of nuclear arms limitation "(Yu.N. Chernyakov Diplomats, officials and others, New York: Azimuth, 1996, p. 81).

In 1960-66, Bessmertnykh worked as a translator, then in the Department of Political and Security Council Affairs of the UN Secretariat in New York. A.A. Gromyko drew attention to him in 1966 and ordered him to be included in the group of his assistants, where Alexander Alexandrovich led the American direction and disarmament issues.

In 1970, Alexander Bessmertnykh was sent to the USSR Embassy in Washington, where, as first secretary, adviser, then envoy-counselor, he dealt with a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues. As the American Biographical Yearbook noted, "during his 13 years of work at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, Bessmertnykh turned into a model diplomat who skillfully represented his country" (New York, vol. 52, no. 6, p. 10-14).

Over the years, he had the opportunity to meet and work (in the absence of the ambassador, often remaining a chargé d'affaires of the USSR) with Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, with Secretaries of State Kissinger, Vance, Haig, Schultz, Baker, national security advisers to the President Brzezinski , Scowcroft, Powell, senators, congressmen, leaders of science, business and the media.

At the beginning of 1983, A.A. Bessmertnykh is appointed a member of the board of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and head of the department for the USA and Canada.

In 1988, Alexander Alexandrovich became the first deputy minister, whose sphere of activity, along with the previous areas, included responsibility for politics in the Near and Middle East. Having established personal contacts with the leaders of many states, he played a significant role in strengthening the positions of the USSR in these regions. Bessmertnykh proceeded from the need to defend the national interests of the country. In one of his publications (1982), he wrote that "in any situation, it is necessary to act primarily from the standpoint of realism, a balanced and cold-blooded consideration of one's own and others' interests. Politics should be based on fresh, extraordinary thinking generated exclusively by the specifics of the end of the 20th century."

In 1990, Alexander Bessmertnykh was appointed Ambassador to Washington. The Americans accepted this appointment with satisfaction, seeing it as a demonstration by Gorbachev of his intention to continue the policy of cooperation with the United States, to reach serious agreements on the limitation and reduction of arms, and to develop bilateral ties in all areas. The Washington Post, in particular, wrote (April 25, 1990) that "Bessmertnykh can become the same super-ambassador that Anatoly Dobrynin was before him."

The Ambassador met with the country's leadership, including on issues of Iraq's aggression against Kuwait, actively worked in Congress, in business circles, and developed friendly contacts with the creative intelligentsia. He paid much attention to press relations, explaining Moscow's domestic and foreign policy. American journalists appreciated the possibility of constant access to the ambassador in Washington, who, as noted, conducted conversations in a free and uninhibited manner, in fluent English language.

After the departure of E.A. Shevardnadze from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in December 1990 M.S. Gorbachev opted for A.A. Bessmertnykh, whom he had known well since 1985, when, as a member of the board of the USSR Foreign Ministry and head of the US and Canada department, he participated in the preparation of Gorbachev's first meeting with US President R. Reagan in Geneva. In the future, he was a participant in all, without exception, Soviet-American meetings on highest level, as well as responsible negotiations with the United States on nuclear and space weapons, on regional issues and bilateral relations. The President of the USSR made a bet on a professional diplomat who played a prominent role as Deputy and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs not only in these areas, but also in developing policies regarding the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, in which he was actively involved in 1986-90 years.

Introducing A.A. Bessmertnykh On January 15, 1991, at a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the President of the USSR announced that he proposed to approve a person of "great professionalism, broad views and high culture" as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs. Deputies of parliament, representing a diverse political environment, gave the new candidate unanimous support - 421 deputies voted for him, only three votes were cast "against". Not a single candidate for ministers or prime ministers received such a high rating from Russian legislators.

Parish A.A. Immortals to the leadership of the Foreign Ministry was of particular importance for the national diplomatic service. “The new minister, in essence, was the first in Soviet history the head of the diplomatic department, who was fully a professional diplomat, that is, a diplomat both by education (before the Immortals, none of the leaders of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had the appropriate education), and by the nature of the work preceding the appointment (half of his predecessors - Trotsky, Molotov, Shepilov, Shevardnadze - became the leaders of Soviet diplomacy, being transferred from leading party work or other public service) "(V.A. Kuzmin. The vicissitudes of professional diplomacy A.A. Bessmertnykh. Yekaterinburg, 1999. P. 8).

The English newspaper "Daily Telegraph" on February 2, 1991 wrote that "it is hardly possible to imagine more unfavorable circumstances than those in which Alexander Bessmertnykh became Minister of Foreign Affairs ..."

Already in the first days of his activity, Bessmertnykh managed to relieve the excessive tension between the superpowers due to the crisis in the Baltic states, to keep the White House from adopting sanctions against Moscow, while maintaining open and closed contacts. It was "the triumph of the Immortals, achieved during the first diplomatic duel as Minister of Foreign Affairs," wrote the famous American researcher Raymond Garthoff (R. Gartthoff. The Great Transition. Washington, 1994. P. 446).

There has been tangible progress in the Middle East. As co-chairs of a future international peace conference on the Middle East, the two powers acted as equal players in the region for the first time. Developing the tactics of Moscow, Bessmertnykh, who launched active consultations with the Arab countries (visited the main ones), with the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, came to the conclusion that direct contacts with Israel on settlement issues were necessary, while at the same time leading the matter to the restoration of diplomatic relations. He was the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR to ever visit Israel - before him, not a single Soviet head of the diplomatic department had dared to do this. The Minister's line led to the holding of the Madrid Conference, important for the fate of the region, in the autumn of 1991, which would not have happened if the two superpowers had not joined forces for the first time in the post-war period. This was a real success for domestic diplomacy in a critically important region.

Bessmertnykh was the author of "the concept of creating a belt of friendship and cooperation around the Soviet Union." It was based on the idea that, without weakening attention to relations with the United States, the leading powers of the West and the states of the third world, to accelerate the development of relations with all states along the perimeter of the country, many of which, for various reasons, had previously found themselves on the periphery of Soviet interests. Thus, an attempt was made to restore the positive elements of its historical policy acceptable to modern Russia.

Among the priorities was the task of developing relations with the eastern neighbor - Japan. The position was developed by the minister together with specialists from the Foreign Ministry. Its essence was to interrupt the logic of building bilateral relations imposed by the Japanese side: first resolve the "territorial issue" and then develop relations. Bessmertnykh proposed the exact opposite logic: to raise the level of bilateral ties in various fields to a level where it would be possible to resolve any issues remaining on the agenda.

Soviet-Chinese relations, in addition to political exacerbations, were aggravated for decades by the unsettledness of the border problem. Specialists from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments have been conducting difficult negotiations for 30 years. The final part of the negotiations fell to the lot of the new minister - to complete the coordination of the remaining issues and achieve the signing of an agreement on the border with China, the length of which was 7.5 thousand kilometers.

Steps were also taken to develop ties with South Korea, in particular, an agreement was reached on the preparation of an agreement on good neighborliness and cooperation.

Iran and Türkiye were important links in the interweaving of the belt of friendship around the USSR. Bessmertnykh concentrated on expanding and strengthening ties with these states.

The minister was especially concerned about relations with Eastern Europe, where, as a result of changes on the continent itself and in the world, the threads of alliance and friendship were noticeably weakening. Bessmertnykh understood that after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet Union could not allow a vacuum to form in the security system in Eastern Europe, dangerous for the interests of the USSR and the entire region. The minister came to the conclusion that the most expedient and practicable option would be the development and conclusion of bilateral agreements with the former members of the Warsaw Pact, which would provide for a clear system for taking into account the security interests of the parties.

Romania was the first country whose Foreign Minister Bessmertnykh signed an agreement with. Next in line were Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria. Negotiations with Poland did not go well. Unfortunately, the internal events in the USSR, which led to the collapse of the state, did not allow to fully implement the plan to replace the previously existing military alliance with a chain of bilateral treaties that ensure the same interests, but in a form corresponding to the new era.

In the conditions of growing tension in the Balkans, the minister was aware of the need to intensify work with Greece, which turned out to be among the "blank spots" of our foreign policy. Bessmertnykh made an official visit to Athens - it was the first visit of its kind in the entire history of Greece. There he held talks with Greek leaders and initialed a fundamental bilateral document - the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, embodying the new atmosphere and content of relations between the two countries.

Having visited Germany, Italy, Portugal, England, Spain, France, the Scandinavian countries, the minister strengthened relations with the rest of Europe. He signed the first agreements with the Council of Europe, playing important role in the life of the continent.

Serious attention was paid to the development of ties with Africa (he signed, in particular, a quadripartite agreement on Angola), Latin America, and the ASEAN countries.

It was an extremely difficult task to untie the tightly tied knots of security policy. He led the matter to a speedy conclusion of negotiations on the reduction of strategic offensive arms. The last, most difficult issues were agreed upon in July 1991. The START-1 treaty was prepared and signed at the end of July during President Reagan's visit to Moscow. It crowned a process that began in the 1960s towards a settlement of the strategic nuclear issue between the two powers.

Processes within the country undermined diplomacy, which Bessmertnyh foresaw. Having lost the rivalry with Yeltsin, Gorbachev agreed with all the demands of the Russian president, including the replacement of the leadership of all the central departments of the country. This also applies to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bessmertnykh retired, leaving behind a short, but one of the most intense and productive periods of Russian diplomacy. He went down in history as the last foreign minister of a superpower.

In subsequent years, he continued to be active in the international arena as president of the Foreign Policy Association, chairman of the World Council of Former Foreign Ministers, co-chairman of the Windsor Forum (Russian-British Elite Dialogue), the Russian-American Political Forum, and a trustee of a number of major universities. Elected vice-president of the International Academy of Creativity, member of the Academy of Social and Political Sciences Russian Federation, Corresponding Member of the Chilean Academy of Political, Social and Human Sciences.

He was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples, Honor, medals, other distinctions, including the Certificate of Honor of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.

Lives and works in Moscow.

In 1990, Alexander Bessmertnykh was appointed Ambassador to Washington. The Americans accepted this appointment with satisfaction, seeing it as a demonstration by Gorbachev of his intention to continue the policy of cooperation with the United States, to reach serious agreements on the limitation and reduction of arms, and to develop bilateral ties in all areas.

Born on November 10, 1933 in the city of Biysk, Altai Territory. Father - Bessmertnykh Alexander Ivanovich (1907-1943). Mother - Bessmertnykh Maria Vasilievna (1908-1995). Wife - Bessmertnykh Marina Vladimirovna (born in 1954). Daughter - Bessmertnykh Maria Alexandrovna (born in 1961). Son - Bessmertnykh Arseny Alexandrovich (born in 1991).

Before leaving to study in Moscow, Alexander Bessmertnykh lived in Gorno-Altaisk, which at that time was the capital of an autonomous national region bordering China and Mongolia (now the Republic of Altai). Russian and Altai blood flows in his veins (his mother was half-Altai - a representative of an ancient people whose roots go back to distant Scythian times). Father, Alexander Ivanovich, worked as an engineer, factory director. In the first months of the Great Patriotic War, he went to fight and died at the front on March 8, 1943. The upbringing of 4 children, the eldest among whom was Alexander, fell on the shoulders of the mother.

In 1951, Alexander Bessmertnykh entered the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, specializing in international law and international relations of Western countries. Shortly after graduating from high school in 1957, he defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of legal sciences.

Even before graduating from MGIMO, which was an unprecedented case, the Immortals were invited to work at the USSR Foreign Ministry. He had to complete his studies at the institute and work in the press department of the ministry at the same time. The young diplomat quickly distinguished himself by his erudition, good knowledge of the English language, and also by the fact that he wrote several successful speeches for N.S. Khrushchev.

Well-known diplomat Yu.N. Chernyakov wrote in his book on the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the USSR: "In 1959-60, I was directly connected with him through service in the press department, in the group for working with foreign correspondents. knowledge of foreign languages, self-control and contact in relations with a very difficult contingent of journalists accredited at the press department... Later, working for many years in the apparatus of the ministry, I had the opportunity to observe the professional growth of this one of the most capable and knowledgeable Soviet diplomats. volume of international information and knowing almost all the most important problems of the foreign policy of regions and individual states, he specialized in Soviet-American relations, especially in negotiations between the USSR and the USA in the field of nuclear arms limitation "(Yu.N. Chernyakov Diplomats, officials and others. New York: Azimuth, 1996, p. 81).

In 1960-66, Bessmertnykh worked as a translator, then in the Department of Political and Security Council Affairs of the UN Secretariat in New York. A.A. Gromyko drew attention to him in 1966 and ordered him to be included in the group of his assistants, where Alexander Alexandrovich led the American direction and disarmament issues.

In 1970, Alexander Bessmertnykh was sent to the USSR Embassy in Washington, where, as first secretary, adviser, then envoy-counselor, he dealt with a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues. As the American Biographical Yearbook noted, "during his 13 years of work at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, Bessmertnykh turned into a model diplomat who skillfully represented his country" (New York, vol. 52, no. 6, p. 10-14).

Over the years, he had the opportunity to meet and work (in the absence of the ambassador, often remaining a chargé d'affaires of the USSR) with Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, with Secretaries of State Kissinger, Vance, Haig, Schultz, Baker, national security advisers to the President Brzezinski , Scowcroft, Powell, senators, congressmen, leaders of science, business and the media.

At the beginning of 1983, A.A. Bessmertnykh is appointed a member of the board of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and head of the department for the USA and Canada.

In 1988, Alexander Alexandrovich became the first deputy minister, whose sphere of activity, along with the previous areas, included responsibility for politics in the Near and Middle East. Having established personal contacts with the leaders of many states, he played a significant role in strengthening the positions of the USSR in these regions. Bessmertnykh proceeded from the need to defend the national interests of the country. In one of his publications (1982), he wrote that "in any situation, it is necessary to act primarily from the standpoint of realism, a balanced and cold-blooded consideration of one's own and others' interests. Politics should be based on fresh, extraordinary thinking generated exclusively by the specifics of the end of the 20th century."

In 1990, Alexander Bessmertnykh was appointed Ambassador to Washington. The Americans accepted this appointment with satisfaction, seeing it as a demonstration by Gorbachev of his intention to continue the policy of cooperation with the United States, to reach serious agreements on the limitation and reduction of arms, and to develop bilateral ties in all areas. The Washington Post, in particular, wrote (April 25, 1990) that "Bessmertnykh can become the same super-ambassador that Anatoly Dobrynin was before him."

The Ambassador met with the country's leadership, including on issues of Iraq's aggression against Kuwait, actively worked in Congress, in business circles, and developed friendly contacts with the creative intelligentsia. He paid much attention to press relations, explaining Moscow's domestic and foreign policy. American journalists appreciated the possibility of constant access to the ambassador in Washington, who, as noted, conducted conversations in a free and uninhibited manner, in fluent English.

After the departure of E.A. Shevardnadze from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in December 1990 M.S. Gorbachev opted for A.A. Bessmertnykh, whom he had known well since 1985, when, as a member of the board of the USSR Foreign Ministry and head of the US and Canada department, he participated in the preparation of Gorbachev's first meeting with US President R. Reagan in Geneva. In the future, he was a participant in all, without exception, Soviet-American summits, as well as responsible negotiations with the United States on nuclear and space weapons, on regional problems and bilateral relations. The President of the USSR made a bet on a professional diplomat who played a prominent role as Deputy and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs not only in these areas, but also in developing policies regarding the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, in which he was actively involved in 1986-90 years.

Introducing A.A. Bessmertnykh On January 15, 1991, at a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the President of the USSR announced that he proposed to approve a person of "great professionalism, broad views and high culture" as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs. Deputies of parliament, representing a diverse political environment, gave the new candidate unanimous support - 421 deputies voted for him, only three votes were cast "against". Not a single candidate for ministers or prime ministers received such a high rating from Russian legislators.

Parish A.A. Immortals to the leadership of the Foreign Ministry was of particular importance for the national diplomatic service. “The new minister, in essence, was the first head of a diplomatic department in Soviet history who was fully a professional diplomat, that is, a diplomat both by education (before the Immortals, none of the leaders of the NKID and the Foreign Ministry had an appropriate education), and by the nature of the previous appointment work (half of his predecessors - Trotsky, Molotov, Shepilov, Shevardnadze - became the leaders of Soviet diplomacy, being transferred from leading party work or other public service) "(V.A. Kuzmin. The vicissitudes of professional diplomacy A.A. Bessmertnykh. Yekaterinburg, 1999 pp. 8).

The English newspaper "Daily Telegraph" on February 2, 1991 wrote that "it is hardly possible to imagine more unfavorable circumstances than those in which Alexander Bessmertnykh became Minister of Foreign Affairs ..."

Already in the first days of his activity, Bessmertnykh managed to relieve the excessive tension between the superpowers due to the crisis in the Baltic states, to keep the White House from adopting sanctions against Moscow, while maintaining open and closed contacts. It was "the triumph of the Immortals, achieved during the first diplomatic duel as Minister of Foreign Affairs," wrote the famous American researcher Raymond Garthoff (R. Gartthoff. The Great Transition. Washington, 1994. P. 446).

There has been tangible progress in the Middle East. As co-chairs of a future international peace conference on the Middle East, the two powers acted as equal players in the region for the first time. Developing the tactics of Moscow, Bessmertnykh, who launched active consultations with the Arab countries (visited the main ones), with the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, came to the conclusion that direct contacts with Israel on settlement issues were necessary, while at the same time leading the matter to the restoration of diplomatic relations. He was the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR to ever visit Israel - before him, not a single Soviet head of the diplomatic department had dared to do this. The Minister's line led to the holding of the Madrid Conference, important for the fate of the region, in the autumn of 1991, which would not have happened if the two superpowers had not joined forces for the first time in the post-war period. This was a real success for domestic diplomacy in a critically important region.

Bessmertnykh was the author of "the concept of creating a belt of friendship and cooperation around the Soviet Union." It was based on the idea that, without weakening attention to relations with the United States, the leading powers of the West and the states of the third world, to accelerate the development of relations with all states along the perimeter of the country, many of which, for various reasons, had previously found themselves on the periphery of Soviet interests. Thus, an attempt was made to restore the positive elements of its historical policy acceptable to modern Russia.

Among the priorities was the task of developing relations with the eastern neighbor - Japan. The position was developed by the minister together with specialists from the Foreign Ministry. Its essence was to interrupt the logic of building bilateral relations imposed by the Japanese side: first resolve the "territorial issue" and then develop relations. Bessmertnykh proposed the exact opposite logic: to raise the level of bilateral ties in various fields to a level where it would be possible to resolve any issues remaining on the agenda.

Soviet-Chinese relations, in addition to political exacerbations, were aggravated for decades by the unsettledness of the border problem. Specialists from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments have been conducting difficult negotiations for 30 years. The final part of the negotiations fell to the lot of the new minister - to complete the coordination of the remaining issues and achieve the signing of an agreement on the border with China, the length of which was 7.5 thousand kilometers.

Steps were also taken to develop ties with South Korea, in particular, an agreement was reached on the preparation of an agreement on good neighborliness and cooperation.

Iran and Türkiye were important links in the interweaving of the belt of friendship around the USSR. Bessmertnykh concentrated on expanding and strengthening ties with these states.

The minister was especially concerned about relations with Eastern Europe, where, as a result of changes on the continent itself and in the world, the threads of alliance and friendship were noticeably weakening. Bessmertnykh understood that after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet Union could not allow a vacuum to form in the security system in Eastern Europe, dangerous for the interests of the USSR and the entire region. The minister came to the conclusion that the most expedient and practicable option would be the development and conclusion of bilateral agreements with the former members of the Warsaw Pact, which would provide for a clear system for taking into account the security interests of the parties.

Romania was the first country whose Foreign Minister Bessmertnykh signed an agreement with. Next in line were Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria. Negotiations with Poland did not go well. Unfortunately, the internal events in the USSR, which led to the collapse of the state, did not allow to fully implement the plan to replace the previously existing military alliance with a chain of bilateral treaties that ensure the same interests, but in a form corresponding to the new era.

In the conditions of growing tension in the Balkans, the minister was aware of the need to intensify work with Greece, which turned out to be among the "blank spots" of our foreign policy. Bessmertnykh made an official visit to Athens - it was the first visit of its kind in the entire history of Greece. There he held talks with Greek leaders and initialed a fundamental bilateral document - the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, embodying the new atmosphere and content of relations between the two countries.

Having visited Germany, Italy, Portugal, England, Spain, France, the Scandinavian countries, the minister strengthened relations with the rest of Europe. He signed the first agreements with the Council of Europe, which plays an important role in the life of the continent.

Serious attention was paid to the development of ties with Africa (he signed, in particular, a quadripartite agreement on Angola), Latin America, and the ASEAN countries.

It was an extremely difficult task to untie the tightly tied knots of security policy. He led the matter to a speedy conclusion of negotiations on the reduction of strategic offensive arms. The last, most difficult issues were agreed upon in July 1991. The START-1 treaty was prepared and signed at the end of July during President Reagan's visit to Moscow. It crowned a process that began in the 1960s towards a settlement of the strategic nuclear issue between the two powers.

Processes within the country undermined diplomacy, which Bessmertnyh foresaw. Having lost the rivalry with Yeltsin, Gorbachev agreed with all the demands of the Russian president, including the replacement of the leadership of all the central departments of the country. This also applies to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bessmertnykh retired, leaving behind a short, but one of the most intense and productive periods of Russian diplomacy. He went down in history as the last foreign minister of a superpower.

In subsequent years, he continued to be active in the international arena as president of the Foreign Policy Association, chairman of the World Council of Former Foreign Ministers, co-chairman of the Windsor Forum (Russian-British Elite Dialogue), the Russian-American Political Forum, and a trustee of a number of major universities. Elected vice-president of the International Academy of Creativity, member of the Academy of Social and Political Sciences of the Russian Federation, corresponding member of the Chilean Academy of Political, Social and Human Sciences.

He was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples, Honor, medals, other distinctions, including the Certificate of Honor of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.

Lives and works in Moscow.

Three and a half years ago, a Kuzbass Alexander Bessmertnykh brought Russia a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Sochi. In March 2017, he again won silver, but already at the World Championships in Finland, and in May he began active preparations for the 2018 Olympics in South Korea.

On the eve of the first pre-Olympic training camp in Izhevsk, the skier met with the correspondent of the Kemerovo Newspaper. Over a cup of mint tea, Alexander Bessmertnykh admitted how he won his first championship, calculated how many kilometers a year he skis, and told what bedtime stories his daughter reads to him.

Credit skis and torn boots

- Sasha, how did you get into sports? And why did you choose skis?

- In Berezovsky, apart from skiing, wrestling and barbells, in my childhood there was nothing else. I went everywhere, but over time, only skis remained. Why they? Father himself ran, well, I'm with him for the company. My childhood was in the nineties, when the whole country was in a fever. Thank you for your parents.

By the way, I won’t say when and how I started skiing. I was probably four or five years old. But I remember my first skis! These were "Bullfinches" - such cool, wooden ones.

Are they still intact?

- Yes, what is there! Even the cassettes were not preserved from the first competitions. Very sorry. At a young age, you think: oh, how many more there will be, those competitions! So a lot of things are lost, which were an indication that it is possible, having nothing, to give a result.

You know, I won my first national championship on boots that a friend sold me for 400 rubles. They had a hole in the toe, which I covered with plaster and ran on them.

- Seriously?!

- There is nowhere more serious! You just can’t imagine what mentors sometimes go to in order to send an athlete to competitions. At one time, either the father or the coach sold a cow to the skier Vladimir Vilisov in order to buy skis for him. Most athletes experience this. With work to overcome.

- I think it seems to people from the outside that everything is much simpler ... I ran 15 kilometerslight - and a champion.

“People don’t try to get to the heart of the process. They show a picture - beautifully, but no one knows what is behind this picture. For the first serious skiing, my father had to take out a loan! But it was on them that I later won the world championship.

It was all over the place. Kruglov's father laid a medal in order to send his son to the competition ... This episode was later included in the film "Champions". It's great that this is somehow preserved in memory.

Now I understand that I also needed to collect something in memory of the sport. There is a dream, of course, to organize an exhibition of cups, medals and equipment at the ski base in Berezovsky. I hope we can do it all within two years. For now, you just want to relax. In a couple of years, the rest will definitely be longer.

- Is it in the context of ending a career? Isn't it too early?

- How early is it? I plan to run for two more years. And then ... further it will be seen: there is a result - we continue, no - we leave. It's scary, of course, because I can't do anything else - just play sports professionally.

In the ninth grade, I decided so and left school for the Olympic reserve school, because I realized that sport should become a profession. Higher education for an athlete is also a necessity. The sport ends sooner or later.

But study should be a real study, and not “you are an athlete, you run, we put a test”. I studied at the Omsk University of Physical Culture. Seven years of teaching - thanks to them for that. But I know the profession not only in theory, but also in practice. It will help me a lot if I decide to go into sports administration after my career. After all, all my ideas are connected with the development of cross-country skiing in the Kemerovo region, but not in Kemerovo or Berezovsky, but throughout the region.

9,000 kilometers of track

- What number are you preparing for the National Team for the Olympics?

- I'm not a number, I'm a person! Numbering is not for me. We have the absolute leader of the team - this is Ustyugov, the rest strive to keep up. Vylegzhanin, Legkov and Belov - if not disqualified - I'm sure they could fight on a par with me. Young athletes step on their heels.

- Among the athletes who are predicted to receive awards at the 2018 Olympics, there are you and Sergey Ustyugov. How do you feel about such forecasts?

- Honestly? I don't like forecasts. This year I came to the National Championships after the “fifty dollars” in Oslo, after the stage in Canada, where I took two podiums at the World Cup stage in the classical style, and I was greeted with the words: “Oh, what are you doing now! Oh!". At the “fifty kopecks” the medal was hung on the chest beforehand. I said: "As it turns out, it will turn out." As a result, he took 15th place. Well, don't go skiing! We didn't go, that's all.

Ahead - nine months of preparation. Of course, I want to win more than one medal in Korea, but no one knows what will happen in reality. I will try my best to give 100%.

- Did the disqualifications of athletes greatly affect the atmosphere in the team?

- This is a working moment. A miner goes into the face without thinking about whether the coal will be sold or not at the market price. He goes to do his job and do it well. We also. It is clear that thoughts “what if not?” fly by, but they must be driven.

- Did you see the track in Pyeongchang, along which you have to run for a medal?

- Only on TV! Normal track. Not Sochi, but quite. They are unique everywhere. But we will still go a week or two before the race, we will see everything in detail.

- What will be the preparation for the Olympics?

– Usually the fees last 20 days. The first pre-Olympic training camp in Izhevsk will last 10 days, then examination in Moscow, treatment in Sochi or Belokurikha.

From June 13, training camps in Estonia will begin. This will be a small fraction of what we usually do. Every year we try to experiment - we need not only to show ourselves at the Olympics, but also to look for new moves, schemes. This time the coach suggested resting a little more. This means not “lying on the couch”, driving 500 kilometers less than usual.

- How much is it usually?

- The annual volume that we usually drive / run / ride is 9000 kilometers (Distance from the extreme western to the extreme eastern border of Russia. - Note by author). This includes rollerblading, cross country skiing. This is without a bike. It's funny, but about the same amount I drive a year in my car.

- A gift from the president? By the way, why didn't you sell it like other athletes?

“Because I would never buy such a car!” I would take what is easier for myself. Someone did just that, but invested, for example, in housing, which he did not have.

– The 2016-2017 season turned out to be fruitful! What are your impressions of him?

- Double. Something worked, something didn't. Of course, I wanted personal medals, because a relay race is a relay race. It is clear that the Russian national team is a very strong team, and when you get into it, you can be 99% sure that you will be with a medal. And the personal race is your race.

We were upset on the relay podium, because “silver”, and someone said: “Now the time has come when the Russian team is not happy with the second place.” This is a good sign - it means we can be in the first place, we know how to achieve it.

Team Team, and the "cups" - apart

Sasha, are you a superstitious person?

- I? Absolutely not.

- That is, all the stories about athletes spitting over their left shoulder and getting up only from their right foot are a myth?

There are no superstitious people in cross-country skiing. There were races when I tried to "bring the good" from the previous ones, I tried to work out my own algorithm of actions. Nothing worked. Dropped this job.

- When it comes to the individual classification, is there competition in the Russian national cross-country skiing team?

- Our athlete Alexander Legkov said once: “What are you fighting with each other? You are fighting other countries!” - and I agree with him. Well, why should I fight with Ustyugov, if the track is full of other rivals who need to be beaten?

We have normal, good relations in the team. Everyone respects each other, there is no squabbling. To laugh it off, to pin it - yes. One day Legkov was preparing for a race with Chernousov. The weather is warm, and Chernousov has "cups" - special pieces for sticks so that they do not fall into loose snow - the wrong size. He asked Legkov: “Sanya, give me a bigger cup,” and he replied: “Well, no! It’s us in the room with you friends, and on the track it’s every man for himself!” Ilya found the devices, but if he hadn’t found them, I’m sure Sanya would have given them to him.

- Sasha, I personally watched you play basketball and football, I know that you were engaged in boxing and hockey ... Are there any sports where you have not been yet?

- Eat! It's curling (laughs). Simply because it is not yet available in Kuzbass. Will be - I will try myself in it. Everything is ahead. I like to spend my free time actively, not lying on the couch. I love to walk with my child. Our pine forest is a wonderful place, and many do not go there, they don’t even know that hares run around there. They sit at the computer and that's it. And I'm glad that most of the time I run, jump, and do not sit with the phone in my hands.

Tales of Polina's daughter

- How did the family adapt to the schedule of the dad-athlete?

- I'm used to it! This is just a habit, a person gets used to everything. And I think my wife is a hero. I sometimes think that it's not good to spend so little time with a child. But I know many people who are at home all year round, but they go to work at seven - the children are still sleeping, come in at nine - the children are already asleep, no communication at all. I don't know which is better in this situation. Due to the difference in time zones, of course, it is difficult to communicate with his wife and daughter. You don't know if you'll make it or not...

- Remembering what a difficult path you yourself have traveled, please answer, will you send your children to sports?

- I already gave it away! My five-year-old daughter Polina is already figure skating. And not even three, but five workouts a week! In Kuzbass, this sport is young, it's time to develop it.

But I don’t build any ambitious plans: if she becomes an athlete, it’s great, if she doesn’t, then it’s necessary. My daughter goes to prep school, dancing, singing, figure skating... She's a versatile kid. Many say: “You don’t give a child childhood!” But is childhood really sitting in front of a TV or a computer? Childhood is activity, communication, emotions.

- Sasha, are you a stern father?

- Vice versa! I rarely see my daughter, so I allow everything. My wife Dasha is responsible for “strict upbringing” in the family, because the main part of it is on her.

My daughter and I love to read books before bed, like everyone else. We tell each other stories. Polina usually commands: "You tell me two tales and one - I tell you." She makes such funny mixes from Little Red Riding Hood and Kolobok!

– Would you like to change something in your life?

– I think I am a happy person. And it seems to me that the percentage of happy people on this planet is not so high. So I'm glad to be one of them. Globally, I would not change anything in my reality. I get high from my work and life - this is the most important thing!

Olga Kovalenko,