Sergey Lavrov

Sergey Lavrov
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 March 2004
Prime Minister	Mikhail Fradkov Viktor Zubkov Vladimir Putin
Preceded by	Igor Ivanov
Personal details
Born	21 March 1950 (1950-03-21) Moscow, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Political party	United Russia
Alma mater	Moscow State Institute of International Relations
Signature

Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (real last name - Kalantaryan) (Russian: Серге́й Ви́кторович Лавро́в, born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has been the Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004. 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.

Early life

Lavrov was born in Moscow to an Armenian father and Russian 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.

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, December 2000, April 2002, and June 2003.

Foreign Ministership

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.

Personal life

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 a heavy chain smoker.

Honours and awards

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Russian Wikipedia.

• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd class (2010), 3rd class (2005) and 4th class (1998)
• Order of Honour (1996)
• Honoured Worker of the Diplomatic Service of the Russian Federation (2004)
• Order of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, 1st class (Russian Orthodox Church, 2010) and 2nd class
• Order "Dostyk" ("Friendship") (Kazakhstan, 2005)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun (Peru, 2007)
• Order of Friendship of Peoples (Belarus, 2006)
• Order of Friendship (Vietnam, 2009)
• Order of Friendship (Laos)
• Medal of Honour (South Ossetia, 19 March 2010) - 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 (Armenia, August 19, 2010) - for outstanding contribution to the consolidation and development of age-old Armenian-Russian friendly relations
• Gold Medal of the Yerevan State University (Armenia, 2007)
• Honorary medal "For participation in the programs of the United Nations" (UN Association of Russia, 2005)
• Order of Heydar Aliyev

External links

• (English) Biography of Lavrov on the Department of Foreign Affairs site
• (Russian) Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
• (Russian) Moscow State Institute of International Relations
• (French) Sergeï Lavrov interview

Diplomatic posts
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