Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov is a Russian diplomat and currently the Foreign
Minister of Russia, incumbent since 2004. His nomination to the Foreign
Minister's office was approved by two Russian presidents, in 2008 by Dmitry
Medvedev and in 2012 by Vladimir Putin. Prior to that, Lavrov was a Soviet
diplomat and Russia's ambassador to the United Nations from 1994 to 2004.
Besides his native Russian, Lavrov speaks English, French, Sinhala and
Dhivehi. Early life and education
Lavrov was born in Moscow on 21 March 1950 to an Armenian father and a Russian
mother from Georgia. His mother worked in the Soviet Ministry for Foreign
Trade. Lavrov graduated from high school with a silver medal. Since his favorite
class was physics, he planned to enter either the National Research Nuclear
University or the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, but he entered
the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and graduated in
1972. During his education at the MGIMO, Lavrov studied international relations.
Soon he learned Sinhalese, then the only official language of Sri Lanka, as well
as Dhivehi, the official language of the Maldives. Moreover, Lavrov learned
English and French, but has stated that he is unable to speak the French
language fluently. After he was admitted to the university, Lavrov, along with
other students, was sent for a month to build the Ostankino Tower. During his
summer vacations, Lavrov also worked in Khakassia, Tuva and the Russian Far
East. Each semester Lavrov with his fellow students conducted drama
performances, which were later presented on the main stage of the university.
During the third year of his studies, Lavrov married.
Career = Soviet Union =
Diplomatic career in Sri Lanka Lavrov graduated in 1972. As per the
rules of that time, a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International
Relations had to work for the Foreign Ministry for a certain amount of time.
Lavrov was employed in the Soviet embassy in Sri Lanka as an advisor, as
he was already a specialist on the country. At the time, the Soviet Union
and Sri Lanka had close market and economic cooperation and the Soviet
Union launched the production of natural rubber in the country. The Soviet
embassy in Sri Lanka also maintained relations with the Maldives. The embassy
in Sri Lanka employed only 24 diplomats. Lavrov was given the task of
continuously analysing the situation in the country, but he also worked as a
translator, personal secretary and assistant for Rafiq Nishonov. In
addition, he gained the diplomatic rank of an attaché.
Section of the International Economic Relations and the U.N.
In 1976 Lavrov returned to Moscow. He worked as a third and second secretary
in the Section for the International Economic Relations of the USSR. There he
was involved in analytics and his office also worked with various international
organizations including the United Nations. In 1981, he was sent as a
senior adviser to the Soviet mission at the United Nations in New York City. In
1988 Lavrov returned to Moscow and was named Deputy Chief of the Section of the
International Economic Relations of the USSR. Between 1990 and 1992 he worked as
Director of the International Organization of the Soviet Foreign
Ministry. = Russian Federation =
In October 1990, Andrey Kozyrev, who led the control of the international
organizations at the time, was named Foreign Minister of the Russian SFSR. In
that year, the powers of the Soviet Foreign Ministry and the Foreign
Ministry of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic were
distributed. Until then the Russian SFSR had only a ceremonial role. In October
1991, the foreign ministers of all Soviet republics, except Georgia and the
Baltic states, held a meeting where they dealt with the Union of Foreign
Ministries. In November 1990, the State Council decided to change its name from
the Union of Foreign Ministries to the Foreign Ministry of the Soviet Union and
in December that year, the Foreign Ministry of Soviet Russia became the
Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation. In 1992 Lavrov was named
director of the Department for International Organizations and Global
Issues in the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation. In April 1991, he
was named deputy foreign minister. Lavrov was asked to oversee the
activities of the Human Rights and International Cultural Cooperation and
the two departments – for the CIS countries, international organizations
and international economic cooperation. Lavrov 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 the President of the United Nations Security Council in
December 1995, June 1997, July 1998, October 1999, December 2000, April 2002,
and June 2003. Foreign ministership
On 9 March 2004, President Vladimir Putin appointed Lavrov to the post of
minister of foreign affairs. He succeeded Igor Ivanov in the post. On 21
May 2012, Lavrov was reappointed foreign minister to the cabinet led by prime
minister Dimitri Medvedev. Lavrov is regarded as continuing in the
style of his predecessor: a brilliant diplomat but a civil servant rather than
a politician. A Russian foreign policy expert at London's Chatham House, has
described him as "a tough, reliable, extremely sophisticated negotiator", but
adds 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.
= 2012 Support of Bashar al-Assad = In 2012, a Russian delegation travelled
to Syria to affirm Russia's backing of the Syrian government. Lavrov and
Mikhail Fradkov, who were part of the delegation, were given a royal welcome
by thousands of pro-Assad supporters. The supporters waved Russian flags in
thanks to Russia's veto of a UN resolution calling for tough sanctions
on the Syrian government. = 2014 Crisis in Ukraine =
After the March 2014 referendum of Crimea to Russia which, and after the
United Nations General Assembly vote had declared the results, on 29 March Lavrov
was interviewed over the crisis in Ukraine. Here he proposed that Ukraine:
be independent of any bloc, the Russian language be recognised officially; and
that the constitution be organised along federal lines, amongst other things.
Lavrov noticed William Hague's newspaper article which described the initial
sanctions regime in response to Russia's "outrageous land grab", "bullying" and
which left them "face(ing) global isolation". Lavrov reminded readers that
the zero-sum "either-or" bloc-politics of Ukraine were first suggested in 2004
by Karel De Gucht, then Foreign Minister of Belgium.
While visiting Kiev, Ukraine on March 22, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper stated that he supports expelling Russia from the G8 and expects to
discuss the potential expulsion with other G7 leaders at an upcoming meeting
in The Hague. On March 24, G8 leaders met formally in The Hague, without
Russia being present, and voted to officially suspend Russia's membership
in the G8. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov stated earlier that day that the
G8 was an informal organization and membership was optional for Russia.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, as host of the then-next G20
meeting, proposed on 19 March 2014 to ban Russia over its role in the 2014
Crimean crisis. She was reminded on 24 March by a communique of the BRICS
foreign ministers, of whom Lavrov is one, that "The Ministers noted with
concern, the recent media statement on the forthcoming G20 Summit to be held in
Brisbane in November 2014. The custodianship of the G20 belongs to all
Member States equally and no one Member State can unilaterally determine its
nature and character." Lavrov was interviewed again on 30
March. He described the meeting at the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague
earlier that week. His NSS position was consistent with the one in his 29 March
interview, in which he spoke of the February 21 agreement with he signed
along with Viktor Yanukovich, Vitaly Klitchko, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and Oleg
Tyagnibok as well as the Foreign Ministers of Poland, France and Germany
to promote peaceful changes in Ukrainian power. Lavrov stressed federalism as a
solution to the constitutional impasse in the Ukraine, and deplored the
disofficialisation of the Russian language. He noticed the work of the
secretariat of the Council of Europe at the Venice Commission to prevent a
legitimation of the Crimean referendum, and to expel Russia. Lavrov was taken
aback by what the U.S. President Barack Obama said about Russia being a regional
power and about the costs they will have to pay. He claimed that hard-ball
tactics were used by the U.S. at the U.N. to declare invalid the Crimean
referendum. Lavrov deplored the misuse of the Schengen Agreement to force
Crimeans to visit Kiev in order to gain a Schengen visa, and noticed that the
E.U. proposes a visa-free regime for Ukrainian citizens. The Russians
surveilled the contacts of E.U. ambassadors with the Svoboda party and
claimed that the Ukrainians appeared to be in violation of the ICAO agreement on
respite of pilots. Lavrov was quoted as saying "I’m not so much surprised by the
pettiness of those who have seized power in Ukraine. But the pettiness of their
Western sponsors is amazing." Lavrov reiterated the three-part Russian
proposal for the progress of Ukraine: Constitutional federalism;
Recognition of linguistic minorities; That Ukraine be a non-aligned state.
His subordinate in London, Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko, had on 28 March
authored a piece in the Daily Telegraph which largely repeats the Russian
three-point plan. Yakovenko remarked that the United States, United Kingdom,
and Germany each have federalized systems, and suggests that Russian along
with Ukrainian should be given an official language status while other
languages will be granted a status in accordance with the European Charter for
Regional or Minority Languages. The Kiev government on 30 March
denounced Lavrov's proposals as amounting to “the complete capitulation
of Ukraine, its dismemberment, and the destruction of Ukrainian statehood.’s
proposals for federalisation, a second official language, and referendums are
viewed in Ukraine as nothing less than proof of Russia’s aggression. We
sincerely regret that Minister S. Lavrov had to voice them,” said Foreign
Minister Andrii Deshchytsia in a statement. This position was repeated
forcefully on 10 April in London's Daily Telegraph by Ambassador Volodymyr
Khandogiy. Khandogiy asserted that "Ukraine always was – and, I’m
convinced, will be – a unitary state. Kiev has unambiguously urged Moscow to
avoid meddling in Ukraine’s internal affairs. Instead, the Russians offer an
idea of federalisation aimed at destroying Ukraine," and concludes with
an unfortunate Biblical reference to Matthew 7.
In a significant breakthrough toward the peaceful resolution of this conflict,
the Prime Minister of the Ukraine, Arseniy Yatseniuk, on 11 April offered
concessions to rebels in the city of Donetsk, thus addressing point #1 of the
Lavrov proposal as follows. He told regional leaders and businessmen there
that parliament should consider a “law on referendums … to allow regions to
decide issues of key importance to them. Executive committees of each region will
be handed all financial, economic, administrative and other powers so they
control their own territories, giving them the ability to develop these
territories to attract investment and receive additional income for each
region by amending the budget law of Ukraine. The central government is ready
not only for dialogue with the regions, but to meet legal demands and wishes of
every resident of the country.” Lavrov denied accusations that Russia is
arming the pro-Russian separatists, "There are reasons to believe that they
hear us on other aspects of Russian position regarding the crisis in
Ukraine, but that doesn't mean that they immediately move to heed our calls."
Lavrov said the separatists want to "defend their culture, their traditions,
celebrate their holidays rather than anniversaries of Roman Shukhevych and
Stepan Bandera." Personal life
He is a keen sportsman and a smoker. Lavrov likes to watch football games on
television, is an ardent fan of the Moscow club Spartak, and a keen amateur
footballer in his own right. He has one daughter, Ekaterina, a graduate of
Columbia University, who stayed in New York until 2014, when she was asked to
come back to live in Moscow. Honors and awards
He is an honorary member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society.
Order of Sergius of Radonezh 1st Class - For his political efforts that have
benefited the Russian Orthodox Church Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st
class, 2nd class, 3rd class and 4th class
Order of Honour Honoured Worker of the Diplomatic
Service of the Russian Federation Order of the Holy Prince Daniel of
Moscow, 1st class and 2nd class Order of Friendship
Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun Order of Friendship of Peoples
Order of Friendship Order of Friendship
Medal of Honour – for his great personal contribution to strengthening
international security, peace and stability in the Caucasus, the
development of friendly relations between the Republic of South Ossetia
and the Russian Federation Order of St. Mashtots – for outstanding
contribution to the consolidation and development of age-old Armenian-Russian
friendly relations Gold Medal of the Yerevan State
University Honorary medal "For participation in the
programs of the United Nations" References
External links Biographical information on Lavrov on
the Department of Foreign Affairs site (Russian) Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Russia (Russian) Moscow State Institute of
International Relations Appearances on C-SPAN
(French) Sergeï Lavrov interview