Putin's PR firm Ketchum going nowhere, still sticking by Russia

Lobbyists in Washington who work for Russian President Vladimir Putin are sticking with him despite the conflict in Ukraine.

The public relations giant Ketchum has earned more than $26 million representing Russia, and is keeping the country as a client despite the widely denounced incursion into Crimea by the Russian military.

“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. We are not advising the Russian Federation on foreign policy, including the current situation in Ukraine,” said a Ketchum spokeswoman.

Ketchum has worked for the Russian government since 2006, when it helped the country prepare for the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg. The firm held with research and media rollout for Putin's 2007 "Person of the Year" award by Time Magazine and contacted The New York Times last year about an op-ed written by the Russian president, according to Justice Department records.

Putin’s government has also paid out handsomely to Alston & Bird, a law and lobby firm under subcontract with Ketchum to represent Russia. That firm has earned almost $1.4 million since coming on board with Ketchum in 2009, according to Justice records.

An Alston & Bird official directed questions about representing Russia to Ketchum.

Work for foreign governments is among the most lucrative niches on K Street, but it often comes with controversy.

James Thurber, an American University political science professor who has studied the influence industry extensively, said lobby firms weigh two factors when taking on and then standing by a foreign client: income and image.

“My inclination is they would never say it's about the bottom line but it's about the bottom line. It's about profit,” Thurber said.