MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. The activities of Russian and US special presidential envoys Kirill Dmitriev and Steve Witkoff, who are not career diplomats, can be regarded as a form of public diplomacy, Andrey Klimov, a member of the Supreme Council of the United Russia party and the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, said in an interview with TASS.

According to Klimov, public diplomacy encompasses virtually everything that falls outside the scope of classical diplomacy, which is primarily conducted by executive authorities and formal diplomatic institutions. He recalled that, under the law, Russia’s Foreign Ministry serves as the coordinator of all international activities.

"That’s correct. But life is diverse, and it is impossible to cover everything through classical diplomacy alone," he said.

Klimov cited Dmitriev and Witkoff as examples of figures operating within the sphere of public diplomacy. "Who are Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev? Are they diplomats? No. Are they employees of their foreign ministries or state departments? No. Are they veterans of the diplomatic service? No. They are businessmen," he explained.

At the same time, Klimov noted that both have been granted special authority. "Each of them has powers as a special representative of their president," he said. "And if you look at it from the standpoint of the classical definition, what they are doing is a form of public diplomacy — but one that the entire world is watching," Klimov concluded.