For much of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, Norway was part of larger political entities, as
Denmark–Norway between 1537 and 1814, and the
United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway between 1814 and 1905. With the
dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905, the
Russian Empire became one of the first countries to recognise the newly independent Norway. A diplomatic mission was opened in the capital, then named
Kristiania, and starting from the first representative, , ambassadors were exchanged for the next twelve years. Representation was maintained following the
February Revolution in 1917 which brought the
Russian Provisional Government, and following the
October Revolution later that year, Norway recognised the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Representatives were changed after the establishment of the
Soviet Union in 1922. In 1940, Norway
was invaded and
occupied by German forces, causing a break in diplomatic relations. Following the
Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, and the Soviet entry to the war on the
Allied side, diplomatic relations were established with the
Norwegian government-in-exile as part of the , with serving as ambassador. With the German defeat and the return of the government to Norway, was appointed the new ambassador to Norway. Relations were maintained through the rest of the existence of the Soviet Union. With the
dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Norway was the first western state to recognise the Russian Federation as its
successor state, on 16 December 1991. The incumbent Soviet ambassador, , continued in post as the Russian ambassador until 1995. ==List of representatives of Russia to Norway (1905–present)==