Lavrov has been in his position for twenty years, not because he is good at shouting slogans, but because he doesn't have his own faction. When Putin called him in the middle of the night to go to the United Nations, he just packed his bag and left, without even changing the list of accompanying staff.
During the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Foreign Ministry was in chaos. Lavrov became the director of the Department of International Organizations in 1990, overseeing human rights, cultural cooperation, and economic issues within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In 1992, he was promoted to Deputy Foreign Minister, responsible for international organizations and global issues. At the time of Russia's independence, foreign resources were limited, and he had to coordinate dialogue with the West while managing the UN affairs. In 1994, he was sent to New York as the Permanent Representative to the United Nations, a position he held for ten years. During this period, Russia served on the Security Council several times, and he was in charge of meetings in December 1995 and June 1997, among others. During the Kosovo War, when NATO bombed Yugoslavia, he stood up to defend Russian interests; in 2003, when the US attacked Iraq, he also resisted pressure and voted against it. In the United Nations building, he constantly interacted with ambassadors from various countries, keeping a detailed notebook of contacts, from hotline numbers to negotiation habits of the other side, all memorized in his mind.
On March 9, 2004, Putin directly named him to take over as Foreign Minister, replacing Igor Ivanov. Since then, Lavrov has never moved, continuing through Putin's second term and under Medvedev's leadership. He was reappointed in 2012, and after the 2020 constitutional amendment, he resigned and immediately returned to office. To date, he has served for twenty-one years, making him the longest-serving Foreign Minister in Russian history. Why does Putin trust him so much? Simply put, Lavrov is an execution-type player who doesn't seek the spotlight or form factions. Unlike some politicians who like to show their presence in the media, he is low-key and focuses on doing real work. The Kremlin sees diplomacy as a tool, and Lavrov is that screwdriver ready to be used at any time, requiring no extra team to tighten the screws.
Taking the 2014 Crimean incident as an example, when Ukraine's political situation was in turmoil, Russian forces entered Crimea, causing outrage among Western countries. On March 1, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting, with the Ukrainian representative demanding to stop Russian military intervention. As the Foreign Minister, Lavrov had to represent Russia in New York. Putin ordered him overnight, and he led the delegation to fly there. At the Security Council meeting, he stated Russia's position, emphasizing the protection of local Russian-speaking residents and refuting Western accusations by citing historical treaties. After the Russian parliament approved Putin's request for military action, he had to stabilize the situation internationally. After the meeting, he also spoke with US Secretary of State Kerry, discussing conditions such as federalism, the status of the Russian language, and Ukraine's non-alignment.
When asked about Russia's intentions, he always said "to safeguard national interests" without beating around the bush. His relationship with Putin is stable, and he is a loyal executor of Putin's foreign policy, never crossing the line. On March 21, 2025, Putin awarded him the Order of St. Andrew, acknowledging his contributions to diplomacy.
In 2012, during the Syrian civil war, he led a delegation to the UN to support the Assad government and vetoed the sanctions resolution against them. In September 2013, he and Kerry finalized a plan to destroy Syria's chemical weapons, which was completed by June 2014. This act brought him into the international spotlight but also attracted controversy. After the Crimean crisis in 2014, he continued to push for the federalization of Ukraine and denied Russian support for separatists. In June 2016, he publicly stated that Russia would not attack NATO countries, but NATO's eastward expansion was a threat. On February 25, 2022, when Russia entered Ukraine, he repeated Putin's words, stating that the action was to "liberate Ukraine, demilitarize it, and denazify it." During the UN Human Rights Council session, he gave a video speech, and Western diplomats directly walked out. On April 7, the General Assembly suspended Russia's council membership with 93 votes. He did not back down and continued to defend Russia at the UN.
Lavrov has also been involved in Middle Eastern affairs. In October 2019, he criticized the US for seizing oil fields in Syria as illegal plunder. In 2024, when Syrian opposition forces launched an offensive, Damascus fell, and he coordinated negotiations with Turkey and Qatar, persuading Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to allow Assad to leave safely. The process was meticulous, with no unnecessary actions. Regarding the Gaza conflict, he criticized Israel's actions in December 2023 as violating international law, comparing them to Russia's objectives in Ukraine, but without going deeper.
Lavrov also promotes a multipolar world, with BRICS being a key focus. From January to February 2023, he visited South Africa, Eswatini, Angola, Eritrea, Iraq, Mali, Mauritania, and Sudan, praising the good relations with Africa and stating that Western isolation had failed. In April, he went to Latin America, visiting Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. In June, he attended the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Cape Town, and in August, he represented Putin at the Johannesburg Summit due to an Interpol arrest warrant. In June 2024, at the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Nizhny Novgorod, he held bilateral talks with Brazil, South Africa, Iran, Laos, Thailand, and Ethiopia. After the Kazan Summit in October, he said that the voices of the Global South had grown louder in governance. On February 15, 2025, he called US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss the Riyadh peace talks in Ukraine, lifting restrictions on Russia, and the situation in Gaza and the Middle East. This was the first call in two years. On February 18, at the Riyadh meeting, he met with Rubio and Saudi officials, agreeing to initiate talks to end the war in Ukraine and normalize US-Russia relations, though Ukraine was not involved.
This year, Lavrov's schedule is full. On September 25, he said that NATO declaring war on Russia was a real thing. In October, he talked with Rubio to pave the way for the Budapest summit between Trump and Putin. On October 9, in an RT interview, he discussed Sino-Russian relations and Eurasian security. In late October, at the Minsk Eurasian Security Conference, he analyzed global dynamics. On October 29, Russian officials threatened to supply nuclear missiles to Venezuela and Cuba, calling the US the enemy, but he did not make a direct statement. At the Foreign Ministry press conferences, he always makes annual reviews, with the 2023 press conference highlighting Russia's diplomatic achievements and the 2024 press conference discussing performance at the UN General Assembly. In October, he met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui in Moscow to discuss bilateral updates.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1847397602919496/
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