Sergey Lavrov

Sergey Lavrov

Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (Russian:Серге́й Ви́кторович Лавро́в) (21 March 1950) is the current Foreign Minister of Russia since 9 March 2004, he belongs to the United Russia party.

He is partly of Armenian descent.

Lavrov said of the Western concept of the sovereign equality of states, the principle by which the [[United Nations was founded:

“

Since the creation of the UN, the international crises that have occurred, in none of these situations did the West respect the principle of sovereign equality of states, considering itself above others. Hence the expression "Golden Billion". Hence the well-known phrase by Josep Borrell, that Europe is a paradise garden surrounded by jungles, meaning all of us. And from the same mentality come the well-known statements by former US Secretary of State Mr. Blinken that those who do not get a seat at the democratic table will be on the menu. This is their philosophy regarding the sovereign equality of states.

”

UNGA speech, Sept 27, 2025

Sergey Lavrov delivered a speech at the opening of the 2025 United Nations session:

“

Nazism is again raising its head in Europe and militarisation is gaining momentum – under the same anti-Russian slogans. This is all the more alarming since a number of political figures in power in Brussels and some capitals of the EU and NATO countries are seriously beginning to talk about a third world war as a likely scenario. These figures undermine any efforts to find an honest balance of interests of all members of the international community, trying to impose their unilateral approaches on others, grossly violating the key Charter requirement – respect for the sovereign equality of states. It is this equality that is the foundation of the objectively emerging multipolarity. Russia is not agitating for a revolution against anyone. Our country has suffered from revolutions more than others.

”

NATO proxy war against Russia

See also: NATO war in Ukraine

In the lead up to the Russian Special Military Operation in Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov asked UK foreign minister Liz Truss during a meeting in Moscow whether London recognized Russia’s sovereignty over the regions of Rostov and Voronezh. Truss replied that the UK “will never recognize Russia’s sovereignty over these regions.” UK Ambassador to Russia Deborah Bronnert, also present, had to intervene and remind Truss that these two regions are actually considered Russian territory even by the United Kingdom, and in fact those regions have been part of Russia for over 1,000 years. For Truss' ignorance of world affairs and history, she was promoted to UK prime minister four months later.

On April 11, 2022 Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said,

Russia's military action in Ukraine is meant to put an end to the US-dominated world order…Our special military operation is also meant to put an end to the unabashed expansion of NATO and the unabashed drive towards full domination by the United States and its Western subjects on the world stage...This domination is built on gross violations of international law and under some rules, which they are now hyping so much and which they make up on a case-by-case basis”.

On July 20, 2022, in a lengthy interview with RT television, Sputnik and Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, Lavrov spelled out Russia's objectives which now had to be modified because of NATO aggressive actions in Ukraine:

This process continues, consistently and persistently. It will continue as long as the West, in its impotent rage, desperate to aggravate the situation as much as possible, continues to flood Ukraine with more and more long-range weapons. Take the HIMARS. Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov boasts that they have already received 300-kilometre ammunition. This means our geographic objectives will move even further from the current line. We cannot allow the part of Ukraine that Vladimir Zelensky, or whoever replaces him, will control to have weapons that pose a direct threat to our territory or to the republics that have declared their independence and want to determine their own future."

Meeting with South African officials in Pretoria, foreign minister Sergey lavrov said,

When we talk about what is going on in Ukraine, we are talking about the fact that this is no longer a hybrid war, but a real one, the West has been preparing for a long time against Russia, trying to destroy everything Russian: from language to culture, which has been in Ukraine for centuries, and forbidding people to speak their native language...In Ukraine, this is all common practice…Both the former president of Ukraine, Pyotr Poroshenko and the current one Vladimir Zelensky, who were elected under the slogan of establishing peace, immediately after being elected turned into war presidents, Russophobe presidents...Any cultural contacts related to the Russian language are prohibited…And this is all supported by the West…Just like the West supports the regular marches of neo-Nazis with swastikas, with symbols of division which were banned by the Nuremberg Tribunal, recognized as criminal…The West supports all this”.

On October 13, 2022, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference:

We sat at the negotiating table with the Ukrainian delegation until the end of March [2022], when an approach to a settlement on the principles suggested by the Ukrainians at the time had been harmonised in Istanbul. These principles suited us for that moment but the talks were stopped by direct order from Washington and London. This conflict is overrun with Anglo-Saxons that fully control the Vladimir Zelensky regime. The Poles and people from the Baltics are trying to fit in on their team. Since then the Ukrainian President has said many times that he is not going to hold talks with the Russian Federation under President Vladimir Putin. Recently, he codified this ban in law. We have never sought negotiations. The Istanbul round completed the process started at Ukraine’s request. Russia positively reacted to the proposal to enter a dialogue, but its initiators cut it off with a shout from overseas or London. We are hearing statements by White House representative John Kirby, my colleague Antony Blinken and other members of the US administration. They are saying that they are completely open to talks with the Russian Federation, that they favor a political settlement of the current situation in Ukraine but Russia (the “troublemaker”) is rejecting proposals to establish contact. I can say straight away that this is a lie. We have not received any serious proposals to establish any such contact. There were some attempts that were not very serious, but we didn’t reject them, either. Instead, we suggested that they formulate specific proposals. Some people made them to us by proxy but in this case, we didn’t receive any clear explanations from anyone, either. No need to lie. We were taught in a kindergarten then lying is bad. Apparently, American kindergartens are not so advanced as they were in the Soviet Union and are now in Russia."

Lavrov responded to the peace overtures by the Trump 2.0 administration:

We are naturally sober-minded people in the political sense. It is crucial not to succumb to illusions, to remain realistic and aware that there have been numerous instances where the United States has drastically reversed its stance. Such is life. There is no escaping this reality.

Lavrov also warned that leaving millions of Russian speakers under Kiev control and unable to use their language would be a 'crime'. As to foreign investment in Ukraine, Lavrov stated:

The presence of foreign capital in a Ukrainian enterprise producing weapons for killing Russians does not provide immunity from strikes.

Lavrov on Western efforts to disrupt peace negotiations

Lavrov on the West's desire to disrupt negotiations:

Western countries are simply looking for a reason to prevent the negotiations from happening, and they want it to happen not because of them, not because of Zelensky, who is also being stubborn and setting some conditions, demanding an immediate meeting with Putin, regardless of anything. It is an attempt to break the process laid out by Presidents Putin and Trump, which yielded very good results, and we hope these attempts will be thwarted. The first step, which does not depend on any wishes of Zelensky or anyone else, is the repeal of all laws that grossly violate the UN Charter. Laws that banned the Russian language and the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Therefore, he is trying to shift the focus of this problem, but he will not succeed.

US Libyan intervention

See also: Libyan war

In a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on March 13, 2011 in the Paris Westin Hotel, Sec. Clinton gave assurances United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 would be used solely by the United States and NATO to prevent Col. Muammar Gaddafi from using his airforce to attack Libyan rebels. Lavrov accepted the assurance and the Russian Federation did not veto passage of UNSC 1973 on March 17, 2011. By March 19, US air power was attacking Gaddafi's ground forces. The deception was the immediate cause of a deterioration in US-Russian relations which has continued into the Trump administration.

Awards

Lavrov is a recipient of the St. Andrew the Apostle Award.

Quotes

• “The United States decided that we have been cooperating too well with Germany over the past 20 or 30 years; or rather, the Germans cooperated with us too well...The powerful alliance based on Russian energy resources and German technology began to threaten the monopoly position of many American corporations...So, Washington decided to destroy this alliance between Moscow and Berlin, and did it literally by attacking the pipelines, which were built to deliver Russian gas to Europe through Germany”.

• "I have no idea what a politically sober American looks like."

• "India, China, Russia, Turkey and Iran - all these countries represent great civilizations, with centuries of history, and these civilizational ties cannot be broken. You don’t see this kind of continuity elsewhere in the world, but it’s a defining feature of the Eurasian continent."

See also

• Obama war crimes
• Oleg Deripaska

External link

• Lavrov on Zelensky's desire to return Crimea in an interview for the Film 'Nazism under investigation', November 27, 2022.
• Article by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russia in Global Affairs magazine, February 4, 2025.