Even as the world condemns Vladimir Putin’s Russian invasion of Ukraine, U.S. public relations firm Ketchum says it will continue its lucrative contract with the Russian government, which has earned the firm over $55 million since 2006.
“Our work continues to focus on supporting economic development and investment in the country and facilitating the relationship between representatives of the Russian Federation and the Western media,” a Ketchum spokeswoman told The Hill. “We are not advising the Russian Federation on foreign policy, including the current situation in Ukraine.”
One of the more noted recent public relations victories Ketchum helped Putin score involved the placement of a widely discussed New York Times op-ed by Putin last September that blasted President Barack Obama over his handling of a possible strike on Syria. Ketchum was also instrumental in helping Putin win Time’s 2007 “Person of the Year” award.
Ketchum is not the only U.S. lobbying firm taking cash from the Russian government. Venable, a law and lobbying firm subcontracted by Ketchum, is also representing the Russia’s government-owned energy company, Gazprom.
Moscow Times reports that Ketchum’s work for Putin has earned the firm over $26 million, and its work for Gazprom has made the PR giant over $29 million since 2006.
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