Aleksei A. Rodionov


Aleksei Alekseievich Rodionov was a Soviet-Ukrainian diplomat who served as the Soviet Ambassador to Pakistan from 1971 until 1974 and the Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada after the Cold war from 1991-92.
He is notable for his appointment that saw his involvement during the war with India in 1971 when the Soviet Union directed a secret message to President Yahya Khan to come up with a peaceful political settlement for the East Pakistan to avoid going through the conflict with India. The now-declassified Rodionov message ultimately warned Pakistan that "it will embarking a suicidal course if it escalates tensions in the subcontinent."
On the issue of the Indo-Soviet treaty, he acrimoniously defended the clauses of the treaty to President Yahya Khan while committing that the Soviet Union's economic aid would continue to Pakistan. During his tenure, the Soviet Union's relations with Yahya Khan had met with demise but he worked towards repairing relations with Bhutto in 1971 when he lobbied in the Soviet Union for the establishment of the Pakistan Steel Mills. On 24 January 1972, he delivered an official invitation to then-President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto In Karachi to pay a state visit to Soviet Union that took place in 1974. In 1974, Rodionov was recalled from his posting as Soviet ambassador to Pakistan in order to take up other duties. Soviet Ambassador Sarvar A. Azimov had succeeded him who stayed until 1980.
After the Cold War, he opted for Ukraine and served as Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada from 1991 until 1992.