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In 1988, when Joe Biden and Andre Gromyko were photographed, the translator between them was 33 years old, and by that time, he had more than 10 years of experience.
Victor Prokofiev worked in departments of the United Nations and in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union from 1984 to 1994. Throughout those years, he translated for heads of state and government.
Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Chernomyrdin, Shevardnadze, Nazarbayev, Reagan, Clinton, Bush Senior, Thatcher, Mitterand, Rajiv Gandhi, and Lee Kuan Yew.
When Biden visited Moscow in 1988, he was then chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and he visited the USSR to meet Andrei Gromyko, chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR at the time, and shortly before he stepped down as minister of Foreign Relations, after more than 40 years. Years in office for which he received the adjective “Mr. Nate” in the Western press, and deserved the title of faithful servant when Gorbachev announced his death in July 1989, at the age of eighty.
The Supreme Soviet proceeded to ratify the INF Treaty, and Biden flew out to negotiate with the man who led the ratification process of the USSR Treaty.
Biden represented the United States government and the United States Senate, and Gromyko was, in practice, the head of state responsible for ratification issues of treaties with foreign countries.
Today, 65-year-old translator Prokieviev recounts the details of the encounter in an interview with the Medusa news site:
– At that time, the American side used to accompany their interpreter, and I don’t know for any reason, but the American representatives attended that meeting without him. The US Department of State is known to have the practice of employing in-house translators or outside contractors, people who are not employees of the State Department, but are hired on a temporary basis. In Russia, to my knowledge, there is no such practice, only employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs work with heads of state.
Sputnik Vladimir Rodionov
There was no second translator at that meeting, so I translated everything Andrei Andreevich Gromyko said into English and everything Biden said into Russian.
What impression did Biden make?
From the point of view of a translator and linguist, Biden is pleasant to talk to, well presented, and not difficult to translate.
He came to negotiate with his son, which was very unusual for those years and that the environment.
And Gromyko?
He spoke English well, was strictly critical, and listened carefully to the translation. In general, he often expressed dissatisfaction and corrected the translators. He was never angry with me, he was calm with me and maybe he remembers me since he was Foreign Minister and I translated it. Except, as always, he was arrogant.
In 1988, most likely, no one considered Biden the future president. What do you think of the heads of state?
When the translator works, he focuses primarily on the text. It sees the speaker as the source of the text, and this text should be translated exclusively with focus and precision while conveying feelings and conversational expressions.
Several times in London during the court sessions, we had to translate the profane words. Officially, all declarations must be recorded in the reduced register. They ask us to translate exactly how entrepreneurs speak and in what style, and for the translator, these people are basically the source of the words. And when the tension ends after work, you start thinking about what words and phrases you translated.
Prepared by: Salam Musafir
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