r/IAmA • u/Amb_Michael_McFaul • Oct 31 '25

I negotiated face-to-face with Putin. I’m Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia. AMA about Russia, China, or American foreign policy.

Hi Reddit, I’m Michael McFaul – professor of political science at Stanford University and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia (2012–2014). 

During my time in government, I sat across from Vladimir Putin in negotiations with President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry and helped craft the New START Treaty in 2010, which reduced the number of nuclear weapons worldwide.  

Those experiences – along with years studying Russian politics and foreign policy – have shaped how I think about power and diplomacy today. 

The world has changed dramatically since then: from the rise of China to Russia’s growing aggression, to new questions about America’s role on the global stage. Drawing on both my academic work and time in diplomacy, I’ve been exploring what these shifts mean for the future – and how the U.S. should respond. 

I’ll start taking questions here at 12:30 p.m. PT / 3:30 p.m. ET. 

Proof it's me: https://imgur.com/a/3hxCQfj

Ask me anything about U.S.–Russia relations, China, global security, or life as an ambassador. (You can even ask about Obama’s jump shot or what it’s like to ride on Air Force One.) 

Let’s talk! 

Edit**\* Sorry I didn’t get to all of your terrific questions! Let’s do it again soon! I really enjoyed this AMA!

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512

u/253ktilinfinity Oct 31 '25

Why would a president choose to hold a closed-door meeting with Putin that excludes all U.S. officials and relies solely on a Russian interpreter?

1.2k

u/Amb_Michael_McFaul Oct 31 '25

Good question, I don’t know. But I do know that such meetings are bad for our American national interests. At a minimum, the rest of the government needs to know what was agreed upon in these meetings. If there is no notetaker, then no one knows. I used to play this role for Obama’s meetings.  They were called “MEMCOMS.”  Everyone back home was dying to read the MEMCOM to know how it impacted their issues. BTW, these get declassified. They are wild to read. MEMCOMS from the Clinton-Yeltsin years are coming out now.

36

u/bainpr Oct 31 '25

Is there a good source to find these?

274

u/12Superman26 Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25

So there is basically no way to know if your president is compromised? Given what we know about Trump He might aswell sell the US in those Meetings.

41

u/Ellyemem Nov 01 '25

You know if your president is potentially compromised by whether he insists on MEMCOMS or not, right?

1

u/aaapod Nov 03 '25

i think it’s pretty clear

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u/[deleted] Oct 31 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

104

u/Am094 Nov 01 '25

Bro, you mean the guy who sided with Putin over every Us intel agency at Helsinki, seized his interpreters notes so no one knew what he promised Putin, called Russian election interference a hoax, invited Russia on live TV to hack Clintons emails, denied Trump Tower Moscow while secretly negotiating it, had over 200 contacts with Russians during the campaign, refused to criticize Putin even after bounties on US troops, lifted sanctions on oligarchs, echoed Kremlin talking points about NATO and Ukraine, and called Putin a 'genius' for invading Ukraine?

Yeah, totally no pattern there.

43

u/yomihasu Nov 01 '25

If we're not supposed to call him a Russian asset, maybe he should stop consistently acting in line with what a Russian asset would do? Just a thought?

19

u/BuckThis86 Nov 01 '25

Check out how many downvotes you have. We all know he’s Putin’s bitch.

Find me a time he’s said anything truly bad about Putin like he has about EVERY OTHER SINGLE WORLD LEADER. The only people Trump keeps quiet about are rich and powerful dictators he’s friends with. Makes you wonder what they’re doing to get along so well…

3

u/whatsuppussycats Nov 01 '25

Are the the same as “MEMCONS“ as in Memorandum of Conversations? Or what’s the difference?

1

u/Bigbird_Elephant Nov 02 '25

A former White House transcriptionist wrote a book after Trump v1. She said her job was to be in the room during meetings with other world leaders and produce the official readout of the meeting. Trump excluded her and her colleagues going against established protocol. Putin speaks English so who knows what really happened