Because his father - Sergey Matveyev - was a notable diplomat, Artamon Matveyev was brought up at the royal court since the age of thirteen, where he would become close friends with Alexius I. Matveyev started his career as a government official, who worked in Ukraine and took part in some of Russia's wars with Poland. He was a member of the Russian delegation at the conclusion of the Treaty of Pereyaslav in 1654 and Russian diplomatic mission to Poland in 1656-1657. As the head of the Streltsy Department, Matveyev participated in suppression of the Copper Riot in 1662. Seven years later, he was put in charge of the "Malorossiysky Prikaz", i.e. Ministry of the Ukrainian Affairs, and in 1671 - head of the "Posolsky Prikaz" (foreign ministry) and other ministries. Matveyev was known to have considered unification of Ukraine and Russia as the most important issue of the Russian foreign policy. He once said that it was even possible to temporarily forget about the struggle with the Swedes for the Baltic Sea for the sake of unification with Ukraine. In 1672, Matveyev managed to secure Kiev for Russia during the talks with Poland.