Rising to prominence in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s, Tsereteli became known for his monumental projects, and later for his closeness to parts of the Russian political elite. In 2004, he told Reuters that Vladimir Putin's "healthy soul" had inspired him to do a bronze study of the Russian president. A friendship with former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov saw him commissioned to produce an enormous monument to Tsar Peter the Great that stands in central Moscow.