Sergey Lavrov

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Sergey Lavrov
Sergey Lavrov

Incumbent
Assumed office 
March 9, 2004
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
Preceded by Igor Ivanov

Born March 21, 1950 (1950-03-21) (age 58)
Moscow, Soviet Union

Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (Russian: Серге́й Ви́кторович Лавро́в, born March 21, 1950, in Moscow) is the Foreign Minister of Russia.

He is Armenian-Russian; his father was an Armenian from Tbilisi [1].

Lavrov speaks Russian, English, French and, according to his biography, Sinhala[2], which he learned while in Sri Lanka. He plays guitar, writes poetry and also enjoys rafting.

Contents

[edit] Russia-Sri Lanka diplomacy

Lavrov graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1972. He was sent as a Soviet diplomat to Sri Lanka, where he worked until 1976. He then returned to Moscow and worked in the main office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[citation needed]

[edit] Ambassador to the United Nations

In 1981, he was sent as a senior adviser to the Soviet mission at the United Nations in New York City, and worked there until 1988. He worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 1994, when he returned to work in the United Nations, this time as the Permanent Representative of Russia. While in the latter position, he was President of the United Nations Security Council in December 1995, June 1997, July 1998, October 1999,[3] December 2000, April 2002, and June 2003.[4]

[edit] Foreign Ministership

On March 9, 2004, President Vladimir Putin appointed Lavrov to the post of Minister for Foreign Affairs. He succeeded Igor Ivanov in the post.

Lavrov is considered to continue the style of his predecessor: a brilliant diplomat but rather a civil servant than a politician, Russia's foreign policy being largely determined by the President of the Russian Federation.

[edit] Awards

In December 2006 Lavrov was named Person of the Year (Expert magazine) by Expert magazine, an influential and respected weekly Russian business magazine.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "From Russia With Love?: Foreign Minister’s visit an opportunity for assessment", ArmeniaNow. 
  2. ^ Russia's deep suspicion of the West, "He speaks beautiful English, French, and according to his biography, Sinhalese, which he learned while posted to Sri Lanka in the 1970s."
  3. ^ "Presidents of the Security Council : 1990-1999", UN.org.
  4. ^ "Presidents of the Security Council : 2000-", UN.org.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Yuli Vorontsov
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations
1994 - 2004
Succeeded by
Andrey Denisov
Preceded by
Igor Ivanov
Foreign Minister of Russia
2004 – present
Incumbent