Sergey Lavrov | |
Minister of Foreign Affairs
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Incumbent | |
Assumed office 9 March 2004 |
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Prime Minister | Mikhail Fradkov Viktor Zubkov Vladimir Putin |
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Preceded by | Igor Ivanov |
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Born | 21 March 1950 Moscow, Soviet Union (now Russia) |
Political party | United Russia |
Alma mater | Moscow State Institute of International Relations |
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (Russian: Серге́й Ви́кторович Лавро́в, born 21 March 1950) is the Foreign Minister of Russia. Prior to that, Lavrov was a Soviet diplomat and Russia's ambassador to the United Nations from 1994 to 2004. Lavrov speaks Russian, English, French and Sinhala.[1]
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Lavrov was born in Moscow from an Armenian father and Russian[2] mother from Georgia. He graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) 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 Department of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[3]
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,[4] December 2000, April 2002, and June 2003.[5]
On 9 March 2004, President Vladimir Putin appointed Lavrov to the post of Minister for Foreign Affairs. He succeeded Igor Ivanov in the post.
Lavrov is regarded as continuing the style of his predecessor: a brilliant diplomat but a civil servant rather than a politician, Russia's foreign policy being largely determined by the President of the Russian Federation. Dr Bobo Lo, a Russian foreign policy expert at London's Chatham House has described him as "a tough, reliable, extremely sophisticated negotiator", but adding that "he's not part of Putin's inner sanctum" and that the toughening of Russian foreign policy has got very little to do with him.[6]
Mr. Lavrov is married and has a daughter, Ekaterina. His hobbies include playing the guitar and writing songs and poetry. He is a keen sportsman and also a heavy smoker.[6][7]
Diplomatic posts | ||
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Preceded by Yuli Vorontsov |
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations 1994–2004 |
Succeeded by Andrey Denisov |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by Igor Ivanov |
Minister of Foreign Affairs 2004–present |
Incumbent |
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