Sergey Lavrov
Sergey Lavrov | |
|---|---|
| Сергей Лавров | |
Lavrov in 2022 | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| Assumed office 9 March 2004 | |
| President | |
| Prime Minister |
|
| Preceded by | Igor Ivanov |
| Ambassador of Russia to the United Nations | |
| In office 22 September 1994 – 12 July 2004 | |
| Nominated by | Boris Yeltsin |
| Preceded by | Yuli Vorontsov |
| Succeeded by | Andrey Denisov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sergey Kalantarov 21 March 1950 |
| Party | United Russia |
| Spouse |
Maria Lavrova (m. 1971) |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | Moscow State Institute of International Relations |
| Awards | Honoured Employee of the Diplomatic Service; Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation; Full Cavalier of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" Cavalier of the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First-Called |
| Signature | |
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (Russian: Сергей Викторович Лавров, IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ lɐˈvrof]; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004. He is the country's longest-serving foreign minister since the Soviet era.
After graduating from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in 1972, Lavrov began his diplomatic career in Sri Lanka and speaks fluent Sinhala, Dhivehi, English, and French, in addition to his native Russian. From 1981 to 1988 he held several posts in the Soviet Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City. Starting in the late 1980s he was deputy director and then director of the Foreign Ministry's Department of International Organizations before becoming a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1992. He served as Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1994 to 2004, where he gained a reputation for assertively defending Russian interests during crises, including the Kosovo War and the Iraq invasion. Throughout his tenure, Lavrov has remained a central figure in shaping Russia's foreign policy under President Vladimir Putin.