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Also Known As Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov, Lavrov
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov is a Russian diplomat and politician who has served as the Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004. He is the longest-serving foreign minister since the Tsarist era, and has served longer than any foreign minister of the Soviet period.
Lavrov served as the Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations from 1994 to 2004.
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.
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov 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. He also 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.
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.
Lavrov has allegedly had a relationship with his mistress, Svetlana Polyakova, since the early 2000s. In 2016, her daughter Polina Kovaleva purchased an apartment in London's elite district of Kensington for £4.4 million in cash when she was 21 years old. She has a master's degree from Imperial College London. On 25 March 2022, the British government sanctioned her over allegations of "dirty money" as a part of a broader sanctions regime against corrupt Russian interests following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February
Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation (2020)
First Class of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland (2015) ; 2nd class (2010), 3rd class (2005) and 4th class (1998)
First Class of the Order of Sergius of Radonezh (Russia, 2015) – For his political efforts that have benefited the Russian Orthodox Church
Medal "For his contribution to the creation of the EEU" (2015)
Medal of the Order of Merit of the Kaliningrad region (2014)
Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow (Russian Orthodox Church, 2010)
Honorary medal "For participation in the programs of the United Nations" (UN Association of Russia, 2005)
Honoured Worker of the Diplomatic Service of the Russian Federation (2004)
Medal of the Order of Honour (1996)
Honorary member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society.
