Sergey Lavrov – The Architect of Russia’s Foreign Policy, and the Leader of Its Invasion Propaganda Campaign

A calm voice, a stinging tongue, and a face that does not show many indicators and does not reveal impressions. This is one of the features of the characteristics and personality of Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, Putin’s man of international relations, and his international spokesperson for 18 years, which he spent gradually in diplomacy from the Soviet era to the Russian Federation.

Sergey is obliged to face the world alone in the arena of diplomacy, to defend President Vladimir Putin's view of his invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and to respond to harsh global sanctions against Moscow as a result of the invasion.

 

Preparation Stage

His father was of Armenian origins, and his mother was from Georgia who worked in the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the Soviet Union, Sergey Lavrov was born on March 21, 1950, in the capital Moscow.

He was known for his academic diligence, and he graduated from high school with a silver medal. He was skilled in physics, and even wanted to join the Moscow Institute of Engineering Physics.

But Lavrov chose the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, which would change the course of his life later, and become one of the most prominent and longest-serving foreign ministers in the country's history.

During his studies, he learned the Sinhala language of the people of Sri Lanka, in addition to the language of the people of the Maldives, Dhivehi, as well as English and French, but he admitted his complete inability to speak the latter.

After graduating in 1972, Lavrov was appointed to the Soviet embassy in Sri Lanka, according to the custom with graduates of the Moscow Institute of International Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During that period, Lavrov excelled in assuming the task of analyzing the situation within the ministry. In addition to his work as a translator, and with his distinction, he was promoted to the rank of attaché, at a young age.

In 1976, Sergey returned to Moscow, where he worked as second secretary in the Department of International Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He was entrusted with analytical tasks, in addition to his work and cooperation as a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry with various international organizations, especially the United Nations.

 

Climbing the Ladder

A qualitative leap came in Lavrov's career in 1981, with his appointment as the highest adviser of the Soviet mission to the United Nations in New York, which introduced him to the corridors of the high levels of diplomacy and the vision of creating global events.

In 1988 he returned to Moscow, where he was appointed Deputy Head of the Department of International Economic Relations.

Between 1990 and 1992 he worked as Director of International Organizations in the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In April 1991, he served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, tasked with monitoring human rights activities and international cultural cooperation.

In 1994, Lavrov returned to work at the United Nations again, but with a higher degree and a heavier position, as he was President of the UN Security Council, until June 2003.

After these years in various international forums, Lavrov became sufficiently experienced, especially as he witnessed major transformations in his country from being the second largest pole in the world during the Soviet era to disintegration, collapse and erosion.

Then he tried to go back and stick again within the Russian Federation with the rise of President Putin who carried the old dreams of tsarism and wanted to restore "lost glory.”

 

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Lavrov considers his role model to be the 19th century foreign minister and chancellor of the Russian Empire, Alexander Gorchakov, and is inspired by the possibility of restoring Russian influence in Europe after the defeat in the Crimean War.

Gorchakov relied on the arts of negotiation and diplomacy, which Lavrov desperately wanted.

March 9, 2004, was the most important moment in Lavrov's life, after the doors of the Kremlin were opened for him, and he became Putin's foreign minister.

The foreign minister was determined and professional, and was one of the president's close circle, which has always escalated and intensified with the increase in the state's influence, but it has become a heavy burden with political and military crises in which Moscow has clashed in one way or another.

Lavrov faced various criticisms and attacks that began with discussions about issues of democracy and human rights wasted in Russia, and culminated with the war in Georgia in 2008, as well as the war in Chechnya.

He also worked to diplomatically confront NATO's attempt to expand eastward and set up the American missile shield system near the Russian borders in Ukraine and the Baltic states.

Lavrov's power was evident in 2014 after the cooling of relations between Russia and Europe, following Moscow's annexation of the Crimea, and Lavrov's main task was to prevent his country's political isolation.

This is what he succeeded in through negotiations, according to the Russian Council on Security and Foreign Policies, through his many travels and visits around the world on Ukraine, Syria and Iran.

Even his multiple meetings with former US Secretary of State John Kerry were considered a success for Moscow and a failure for Washington, and Russia was on the same level with the United States in these meetings.

This may explain why Putin in 2015 awarded him the Russian Order of Merit.

 

Wartime

The biggest challenge in Lavrov's career was the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Western and international mobilization against Moscow, in the fiercest confrontation between the two sides since the Cold War (1947–1989).

With the imposition of unprecedented political and economic sanctions on Russia and on its top custodians, from President Putin to ministers, generals and businessmen, Lavrov was engaged in a diplomatic confrontation alone against European Union leaders and US diplomats.

On March 2, 2022, the Foreign Minister stressed that Russia is capable of facing Western pressure, accusing Europe of subordination to Washington.

While he mocked French politicians who criticize Russia's affairs, saying, "No wonder, they behave like roosters."

It is known that Lavrov gets sometimes angry and takes undiplomatic behavior in some diplomatic forums. For example, in a press conference with his Saudi counterpart, Adel al-Jubeir, in August 2015 in Moscow, Lavrov uttered the word: "Morons," then followed it with insults and cursing.

In 2008, after the Russian–Georgian war, Lavrov insulted his British counterpart David Miliband, according to what British media reported, but Lavrov later denied this.

As for the personal nature of the Russian Foreign Minister, it is known that he is a heavy smoker, and it is reported that he sometimes leaves important meetings in order to smoke a cigarette.

He also loves writing poetry, and has many poems written in his name, as well as encouraging the Spartak Moscow football club, and he continues to play the guitar as a hobby. He is also a member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine association.

Lavrov has a small family, he is married to Maria Alexandrovna, and he has a daughter named Ekaterina, who was born in New York, where he worked for 7 years as head adviser to the Soviet mission to the United Nations, and she did not return with him when he was summoned in 2004 to appoint him as Minister of Foreign Affairs but continued to study at Columbia University until she graduated.