Georgy Markovich Korniyenko (also Kornienko; } (13 February 1925 – 10 May 2006) was a Soviet diplomat.

He joined the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1949 and later became an attaché at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, DC during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...

. Then in 1964 he was assigned to head the Soviet Foreign Ministry's American desk. He became a deputy to Soviet Foreign Minister

Foreign Minister of Russia

This is a list of foreign ministers of Tsardom of Russia, Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and Russian Federation.-Heads of Posolsky Prikaz, 1549-1699:*Ivan Viskovatyi 1549-62*Andrey Vasilyev 1562-1570*Brothers Vasily and Andrey Shchelkalov 1570-1601...

 Andrei Gromyko

Andrei Gromyko

Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet . Gromyko was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he retired in 1987. In the West he was given the...

 in 1975 and the first deputy two years later.

He was instrumental in developing Soviet policy toward the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and setting the agenda for U.S.-Soviet disarmament talks in the 1970s and the 1980s. He is known to have clashed on occasion with other members of the Soviet elite on foreign policy issues. In 1983, when a Soviet fighter shot down a Korean airliner

Korean Air Flight 007

Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was a Korean Air Lines civilian airliner that was shot down by Soviet interceptors on 1 September 1983, over the Sea of Japan, near Moneron Island just west of Sakhalin island...

 intruding into Soviet airspace, killing all 269 people on board, Korniyenko opposed the official Kremlin

Kremlin

A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...

 course on the incident and vainly urged the Communist Party leadership to release more information about it to avoid international isolation

International isolation

International isolation is a penalty applied by the international community or a sizeable or powerful group of countries, like the United Nations, towards one nation, government or people group...

.

He was one of the few Soviet leaders who opposed the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He was awarded the Hero of Socialist Labor

Hero of Socialist Labor

Hero of Socialist Labour was an honorary title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries. It was the highest degree of distinction for exceptional achievements in national economy and culture...

medal in 1985, one of the highest awards in the Soviet Union. He died after a lengthy unspecified illness.