Outstanding Russian diplomat Sergei Lavrov began his diplomatic career in 1972 at the Soviet Embassy in Sri Lanka and became the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry in 2004. Lavrov speaks Russian, English, French, Sinhala, and Dhivehi.
His Western colleagues have called him "Mr No", but still recognise the effectiveness of his fine diplomatic game. Lavrov enjoys watching football on television and is known to be a fan of the Moscow club Spartak.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the high-level segment of the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).
© Sputnik / Alexander Shcherbak
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Sergei Lavrov in a student cafeteria.
© Sputnik / Eduard Pesov
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (centre) during a photoshoot with the ministers of foreign affair of the ASEAN member countries before a gala dinner on the sidelines of the Manila Summit.
© Sputnik / Vitaly Belousov
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Sergei Lavrov on vacation.
© Sputnik / Eduard Pesov
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York.
© Sputnik / Alekseiy Panov
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an airplane cabin during a trip.
© Sputnik / Eduard Pesov
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Dmitry Medvedev (left to right) during a meeting in the Kremlin.
© Sputnik / Ilya Pitalev
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a live interview with the Sputnik, Echo of Moscow, and Govorit Moskva (Moscow Talking) radio stations. From left to right: Editor-in-Chief of Govorit Moskva Sergei Dorenko, Editor-in-Chief of Russia Today Margarita Simonyan, and Editor-in-Chief of Echo of Moscow Alexei Venediktov.
© Sputnik / Ilya Pitalev
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Sergei Lavrov during a vacation.
© Sputnik / Eduard Pesov
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Sergei Lavrov during a vacation.
© Sputnik / Eduard Pesov
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (centre) rafts down the waterway of the Regional Centre for Rowing Slalom in Okulovka, Novgorod Region.
© Sputnik / Konstantin Chalabov
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36th Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov (right to left) during the first Fetisov Cup international ice hockey tournament.
© Sputnik / Sergey Subbotin
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Member of the Board of Trustees of the People’s Football League Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during the 2nd Russian Football Festival of the People’s Football League.
© Sputnik / Vitaly Belousov
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu before the start of negotiations between the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the presidential palace in Ankara on 28 September 2017.
© Sputnik / Mikhail Climentiev
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on vacation.
© Sputnik / Eduard Pesov
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) before the final concert of the International Music of the World Against War International Festival with symphony orchestras from the cities of Volgograd and Osnabruck on the Square of the Fallen Fighters.
© Sputnik / Kirill Braga
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) at a meeting with UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi.
© Sputnik / Eduard Pesov
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) and North Korea's President Kim Jong-un at a meeting in Pyongyang.
© Sputnik / TASS/POOL
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Editor-in-Chief of the international news agency Russia Today Margarita Simonyan during the Olympic torch relay in Sochi.
© Sputnik / Pavel Leesitcyn
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US Secretary of State John Kerry (left) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during negotiations on the second international conference to resolve the situation in Syria, Geneva-2, in Paris.
© Sputnik / Eduard Pesov
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addressing a general political debate at the 74th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York.
© Sputnik / Alexander Shcherbak
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Graffiti with a portrait of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on a wall in Moscow.
© Sputnik / Mikhail Voskresenskiy