New Envoy Expects Moscow Embassy to Be Secure for Shultz
U.S. Ambassador Jack S. Matlock arrived today to take up his post and said he assumed that embassy communications, feared compromised in the Marines-KGB espionage case, will be secure by the time Secretary of State George P. Shultz arrives.
Matlock, 57, told reporters at the airport that he did not wish to comment on the sex-and-spy scandal that resulted in the arrest of three Marine Corps security guards and the recall of the 28 guards posted here now.
He said his first priority is to prepare for the Shultz visit April 12-14.
“We assume we will have secure communications when he’s here,” Matlock said. “I’m not going to comment on any condition of the embassy before I see it.”
Matlock replaces Arthur A. Hartman, who left Feb. 19 after five years--the longest-serving U.S. ambassador to Moscow since World War II.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
