Sergey Lavrov facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sergey Lavrov
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| Сергей Лавров | |
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Lavrov in 2022
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| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| Assumed office 9 March 2004 |
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| President |
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| Prime Minister |
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| Preceded by | Igor Ivanov |
| Ambassador of Russia to the United Nations | |
| In office 22 September 1994 – 12 July 2004 |
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| Nominated by | Boris Yeltsin |
| Preceded by | Yuli Vorontsov |
| Succeeded by | Andrey Denisov |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov
21 March 1950 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Political party | United Russia |
| Spouse |
Maria Lavrova
(m. 1971) |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | Moscow State Institute of International Relations |
| Awards | Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation; Full Cavalier of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" |
| Signature |  |
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (Russian: Сергей Викторович Лавров; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as the foreign minister of Russia since 2004. He is the longest-serving foreign minister since the Tsarist era.
Lavrov served as the permanent representative of Russia to the United Nations from 1994 to 2004.
Early life and education
Lavrov was born on 21 March 1950 in Moscow, to an Armenian father from Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, and a Russian mother from Noginsk, Russian SFSR. His father's surname was originally Kalantaryan. 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 (MGIMO) 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. After he was admitted to the university, Lavrov, along with other students, was sent for a month to a student construction brigade building the Ostankino Tower.
During his summer vacations, Lavrov also worked in his university's student construction brigades 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 was married.
Career
Soviet diplomat in Sri Lanka (1972–1976)
Lavrov graduated in 1972. According to 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 to Rafiq Nishonov, who would later become the 12th First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbek SSR. In addition, he gained the diplomatic rank of an attaché.
USSR Section for International Economic Relations and the UN
In 1976, Lavrov returned to Moscow. He worked as a third and second secretary in the Section for 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 to the United Nations in New York City.
In 1988, Lavrov returned to Moscow and was named Deputy Chief of the Section for International Economic Relations of the USSR. Between 1990 and 1992 he worked as Director of the International Organization of the Soviet Foreign Ministry.
Soviet-to-CIS transition (1990–1994)
In October 1990, Andrey Kozyrev, who was in charge of monitoring 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. In April 1991, he was named deputy foreign minister.
In December 1991 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.
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 was promoted to the diplomatic rank of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary — the highest diplomatic rank in the Russian Federation — by the Decree of the President of Russia of 5 June 1992 No. 568.
Russian Permanent Representative to the UN (1994–2004)
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 minister of Russia (2004–present)
On 9 March 2004, President Vladimir Putin appointed Lavrov to the post of minister of foreign affairs. He succeeded Igor Ivanov in the post.
Lavrov held on to his position through Vladimir Putin's Second Cabinet while Dmitri Medvedev occupied the presidency from 2008 to 2012.
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.
US politicians have been much more critical in their appraisal of Lavrov, seeing him as emblematic of President Putin's resurgent violent foreign policies. Then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton found that Lavrov treated her poorly during negotiations, like a "jerk."
On 15 January 2020, he resigned as part of the cabinet, after President Vladimir Putin delivered the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, in which he proposed several amendments to the constitution. On 21 January 2020, he maintained his position in Mikhail Mishustin's Cabinet.
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Personal life
Lavrov speaks Russian, English, Dhivehi, French and Sinhala fluently.
Lavrov is a keen sportsman. He likes to watch football games on television and is an ardent fan of the Moscow club Spartak Moscow. He has been married since 1971 to Maria Lavrova and they have one daughter and two grandchildren. Their daughter Ekaterina Sergeyevna Lavrova, who lived in the US and London while her father was working for the United Nations, is a graduate of Columbia University. Having stayed in New York City until 2014, and spent a long time outside Russia, she is not fluent in Russian. She is married to Russian businessman Alexander Vinokurov.
Honors
Russian Honors
- He is an honorary member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society.
- Order of Sergius of Radonezh 1st Class (Russia, 2015) – For his political efforts that have benefited the Russian Orthodox Church
- Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st class (2015), 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
- Honorary medal "For participation in the programs of the United Nations" (UN Association of Russia, 2005)
- Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation (2020)
Foreign honours
| Ribbon | Country | Honour | Year |
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Armenia | First Class of Order of St. Mesrop Mashtots | 19 August 2010 |
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Belarus | Medal of the Order of the Friendship of Peoples (Belarus) | 22 June 2006 |
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Burkina Faso | Commander of the Order of Étalon | 5 June 2024 |
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Cyprus | Grand Cross of the Order of Makarios III | 8 September 2020 |
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Hungary | Commander's Cross with Star of the Hungarian Order of Merit | 29 November 2022 |
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Kazakhstan | Grand Cordon Class of the Order of the Leopard (Kazakhstan) | 22 January 2021 |
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Kazakhstan | First Class of the Order of Friendship (Kazakhstan) | 16 June 2012 |
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Kazakhstan | Second Class of the Order of Friendship (Kazakhstan) | 2005 |
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Kyrgyzstan | Medal of the Order Danaker | 17 June 2017 |
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Laos | Commander of the Order of Civic Merit of Laos | 2008 |
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Mali | Commander of the National Order of Mali | 7 February 2023 |
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Peru | Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru | 11 September 2007 |
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Republika Srpska | Collar of the Order of the Republika Srpska | 28 September 2018 |
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San Marino | Knight of Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Agatha | 22 March 2018 |
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Serbia | First Class of the Order of the Serbian Flag | 12 December 2016 |
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South Ossetia | Medal of Honour | 19 March 2010 |
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United Arab Emirate | Collar of the Order of Etihad (Order of the Union) | 9 March 2021 |
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Uzbekistan | Medal of the Order of Friendship | 28 March 2020 |
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Vietnam | Medal of the Friendship Order | 25 July 2009 |
See also
In Spanish: Serguéi Lavrov para niños
- List of current foreign ministers
- Foreign relations of Russia
Images for kids
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Putin, Lavrov and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2016 SCO Summit
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Lavrov meets with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, 10 May 2017
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Putin, Lavrov, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the World Holocaust Forum, 23 January 2020
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Antony Blinken, Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin and Lavrov at the 2021 Russia–United States summit in Geneva, Switzerland
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