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Sergey Lavrov
Foreign Minister of Russia
Incumbent
Assumed office  9 March 2004
Prime Minister	Vladimir Putin
Preceded by	Igor Ivanov
Born	21 March 1950 (1950-03-21) (age 59) Moscow, Soviet Union

Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (Russian: Серге́й Ви́кторович Лавро́в, born 21 March 1950, in Moscow) is the Foreign Minister of Russia. Prior to that, Lavrov was Russia's ambassador to the United Nations from 1994 to 2004. Lavrov speaks Russian, English, French and Sinhala^[1].

[edit] Early Life

Lavrov was born in Moscow to Armenian father and Armenian 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.^[2]

[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 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.^[5]

[edit] 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 also a heavy smoker.^[5][6]

[edit] Awards

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

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sergey Lavrov

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Sergey Lavrov

• (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

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