Vladimir Lukin is one of Russian liberal political activists who served as Human Rights Commissioner under Russia's President from February 2004 to March 2014. He previously served as the deputy chairman of the Russian Duma, chair of the Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee and as Ombudsman. He is a director on the board of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), and is also a former Ambassador to the United States. He is considered a long-time specialist in U.S.-Soviet/Russian strategic arms control issues and is a member of Russia's Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, an independent association of national security experts. In 1990s, Amb. Lukin was one of the founders of the liberal-democratic Yabloko Party.