Lavrov, Sergey Viktorovich, 1950– Russian and Soviet diplomat, b. Moscow, grad. Moscow State Institute of International Relations, 1972. He began his career in the Soviet foreign service, working in foreign affairs ministry and at the Soviet mission to the United Nations; after the breakup of the USSR, he served as Russia's deputy foreign minister (1992–94), ambassador to the United Nations (1994–2004), and foreign minister (2004–). An assertive pragmatist who is eager to challenge the United States, he has been a strong advocate of Putin's more aggressive foreign policy but also negotiated a new nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States in 2010.
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