Yakovenko holds the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and speaks Russian, English and French.

He has participated in many sessions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly, the UNESCO General Conference, various OSCE forums, negotiations on conventional armed forces in Europe and confidence building measures, the IAEA Board of Governors meetings, the Russian-American Joint Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation, and the G8 expert meetings.

[1] In January 2011, Yakovenko was appointed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to the post of Ambassador of Russia to the United Kingdom, replacing Yury Fedotov.

[citation needed] Yakovenko has written several comment and opinion pieces for British Daily Telegraph newspaper to clarify his diplomatic position.

"[3] On 26 August 2019, President Vladimir Putin relieved Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Alexander Yakovenko of his duties, with a relevant decree published on the official legal information portal.