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After the Second World War, science underwent a process of international institutionalization and became an essential element in the cultural diplomacy of national states in the context of the Cold War. This article examines the individual trajectories of several physicists and looks at the integration of the USSR into this dynamic and the real place of Soviet scientists in the establishment of real Soviet scientific diplomacy. First, the author discusses the privileged nature of trips abroad and highlights different elements of continuity in the strong symbiosis between science and politics that resulted from the Stalinist period. Last, he details how the appropriation by scientists of the diplomatic issues associated with their new function of representation allowed them to establish a compromise with the Soviet authorities for the pursuit of professional development objectives in an international context.