Vladimir Frolov schreibt dazu im März 2012: „Although President Dmitry Medvedev in his public comments at Moscow State University largely exonerated McFaul by saying that meeting with opposition figures was a routine occurrence, even he warned the new U.S. ambassador to Moscow that he is on Russian soil and should respect Russian political sensibilities.“Russia Profile Weekly Experts Panel: United States Looms Large in Russian Elections (Memento vom 3. März 2015 im Internet Archive), russiaprofile.org, 2. März 2012