Foreign policy The USSR was in charge of a separate department. Official history of the special department for foreign policy began on July 6, 1923. During its existence before the collapse of the USSR, the authority was renamed several times, which did not change the essence of its tasks.
First Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR
The People's Commissariat was headed by Georgy Chicherin, who was born in 1872 in the Tambov province. Received specialized diplomatic education. Since 1898, Chicherin has worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Russian Empire. The core activity of the future Soviet diplomat is the creation of a collection on the history of the ministry. Gradually becomes a supporter of socialist views. From 1904 until the revolution he lived abroad. Was a member of the socialist parties of the states. After the revolution, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR returned from emigration, entered the active political life of the state already during the period Civil War. Officially headed the foreign policy department from July 6, 1923 to July 21, 1930.
At the same time, Chicherin carried out actual diplomatic work even before receiving official status. It is very difficult to overestimate Chicherin’s merit in resolving many issues of relations between the Union and Western countries at the Genoa and Lausanne conferences (1922 and 1923), as well as during the signing of the Rappal Peace Treaty.
USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1930 to the formation of the UN
Headed the department for foreign affairs in the most difficult time from a political point of view (1930-1939), because it was during this period in the USSR that there were massive As minister, he carried out several important missions:
- Resumption of diplomatic relations with the United States.
- The USSR was admitted to the League of Nations (the prototype of the UN; the organization existed from 1918 to 1940 in fact and legally before the creation of the UN). He was the state's permanent representative in the League of Nations.
The first diplomat who officially held the position (after all renamings) of “Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR” was Vyacheslav Molotov, who headed the department from May 3, 1939 to March 4, 1949. He remained in history as one of the authors of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This document actually divided Europe into zones of influence of the USSR and Germany. After signing the Pact of Obstacles, begin the Second world war Hitler had no more.
From March 1949 to 1953, the ministry was headed by Andrei Vyshinsky. Historians have yet to assess his role in the foreign policy of the USSR. After the end of the war, he took an active part in the Potsdam Conference and the creation of the UN. Actively defended political interests USSR in the external arena. Also, do not forget that it was during these years that there was a war in Korea, which split this country into two states: communist and capitalist. Of course, this minister played a big role in fueling the Cold War between the Union and the United States.
The only foreign minister of the USSR who returned to his position after Stalin's death. True, he did not work as a minister for very long - until the famous 20th Congress of the CPSU.
Andrey Gromyko
USSR ministers often worked in the government for a long time. But none of them was able to last as long as Andrei Andreevich Gromyko (from 1957 to 1985), a professional diplomat whose word was heeded by many Western leaders. A lot can be said about this politician, because if not for his consistent, balanced position on many issues of relations with the United States, the Cold War could easily have developed into a real one. The conclusion of the SALT I treaty is considered the most important achievement of the minister.
For many millennia, the fate of states and the peoples inhabiting them has very often been decided not on the battlefield, but in the course of diplomatic negotiations. That is why today no country can do without the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the same time, as experience shows, successful work this department is often associated with personal qualities, as well as with the professionalism and organizational skills of its leader. To be convinced of what has been said, it is worth finding out who previously held this high post, and which Russian foreign ministers have special services to our country.
Ambassadorial order
It is not known for certain when a permanent diplomatic service appeared in Russia. However, the oldest surviving document - the decree appointing Ivan Viskovaty as clerk of the embassy order - dates back to 1549. Apparently, this official zealously took up the matter, since after he took this position, papers relating to diplomatic activities in the first years of the reign of Ivan the Terrible were brought into full order, and he himself soon became the keeper of the state seal.
Viskovaty led the embassy department for 21 years, after which he was suspected of treason and executed. Disgrace also befell Vasily Shchekalov, who replaced him in the position, and the new clerk - Afanasy Vlasyev - became famous for officially representing the groom of False Dmitry I during his engagement to Marina Mnishek.
Ambassadorial Board
Although the exchange of permanent diplomatic representatives between Russia and some foreign countries occurred already in 1673, the formation of the foreign policy department according to the European model began in 1706 with the founding of the Ambassadorial Campaign Office. 12 years later it was transformed into the Collegium of Foreign Affairs and from its founding for the next 17 years it was headed by Gavriil Golovkin. This extraordinary personality was the closest associate of Peter the Great and played a fateful role in the issue of Anna Ioannovna’s accession to the throne.
In subsequent years, the high post of President of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs was occupied by A. Osterman, A. Cherkassky, A. Bestuzhev-Ryumin. The latter especially distinguished himself, ensuring the triumph of Russian diplomacy in the Elizabethan era and taking the post of chancellor. In addition, a service for reviewing the correspondence of foreign ambassadors was created under him.
In 1758, A. Bestuzhev, who had been exiled, was replaced as head of the foreign policy department by M. Vorontsov, who soon fell out of favor and went “for treatment abroad.” At the same time, his duties were assigned to Count Nikita Panin. Then the cabinet leapfrog began, when the chairmen of the board were replaced by those first present (corresponding to the status of interim).
Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Alexander the First
Everything fell into place when a new foreign policy department was organized on the basis of the Ambassadorial College (they existed in parallel for some time).
The first Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov, received this position thanks to his brother, who was respected in English society and could contribute to rapprochement with Great Britain. Such an alliance was necessary for success in the confrontation with France, where Napoleon reigned. The biography of Russian Foreign Minister Vorontsov is also notable for the fact that he helped A. N. Radishchev in preparing the draft of the first Constitution.
After the resignation of Alexander Romanovich, A. Budberg occupied the post of minister for several months, but the signing of the Tilsit Treaty was the collapse of his diplomatic career.
During the difficult period of the war with Napoleon, the foreign policy department was headed by N. Rumyantsev. This minister initiated the signing of several important international treaties, including Friedrichsgam, according to which Finland became part of Russia, and St. Petersburg - about peace with Sweden.
After his resignation, Alexander the First himself headed the department for some time, and then transferred the affairs to K. Nesselrode. If previously Russian foreign ministers changed on average every 5-6 years, then this experienced diplomat served for almost 4 decades. His resignation was honorable, and a decree on it was signed by Alexander the Second in 1856, after the death of Nicholas the First.
Russian Foreign Ministers from 1856 to 1917
Among those who held the post of head of the foreign policy department after K. Nesselrode and before his abolition, the following deserve mention:
- A. Gorchakov, who was an active supporter of an alliance with Bismarck’s Germany;
- A. Izvolsky, notorious for his role in the “diplomatic Tsushima” associated with the occupation of Bosnia by Austria;
- S. Sazonov, who in 1915 concluded a secret agreement with the Entente states on the transfer of Constantinople and the Black Sea straits to Russian control.
The last person to be included in the list under the heading “Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Russia” was Nikolai Pokrovsky, arrested during the days of the February Revolution.
Foreign Ministry of the Russian Republic
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was formed by the provisional government on March 15, 1917. It was decided that it would be led by cadet P. Milyukov. Thanks to his titanic efforts, many states recognized the Kerensky government. However, when it became known about his promise to the Entente governments to wage war until victory, he was removed from office due to protests from the Petrograd garrison.
He was replaced by M. Tereshchenko, who was arrested on November 8 in the Winter Palace. The former Russian foreign minister escaped arrest and died in Monaco in 1956.
People's Commissariat
The new government abolished the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was replaced by the People's Commissariat, the first head of which was the well-known L. Trotsky. In March 1918, he refused this position, as he was opposed to the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty. He was replaced by G. Chicherin, who came from a family of hereditary diplomats and was able to strengthen the precarious position of the young Republic in the international arena. After his retirement from 1930 to 1939, the People's Commissar was M. Litvinov, who was subsequently removed from his duties due to the failure of the Anglo-French-Soviet negotiations.
The next head of the foreign policy department was V. Molotov. He had to work as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs during the most difficult times. pre-war years and during the Second World War. It was he who read the famous appeal to the Soviet people on June 22, 1941, and shortly before that he signed the infamous Pact with Ribbentrop.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR
A notable figure in the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs was A. Gromyko, who held this position for 28 years and handed over his post to Eduard Shevardnadze. The latter was M. Gorbachev's closest ally and conductor of his foreign policy. In 1991, the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR was abolished.
Foreign policy department after the collapse of the USSR
In 1991, the functions of the Union Ministry were transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR, which was headed by A. Kozyrev, and after his resignation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was headed by E. Primakov. His successor was I. Ivanov. As a result of the resignation of Kasyanov's government, he gave up his affairs, and the question of appointing a new head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs became acute. As a result, in 2004 it was announced that the new Russian Foreign Minister was Sergei Lavrov. He began his career in 1972 as an intern at the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was respected by his colleagues.
Russian Foreign Minister: Lavrov (biography)
The diplomat was born in Moscow in 1950. After graduating from an English special school (completed his studies with a silver medal), he entered MGIMO. Since 1972 he worked in the USSR Foreign Ministry. He held the positions of attaché at the embassy in Sri Lanka, senior adviser to the Mission of the Soviet Union to the UN, etc. From 1994 to 2004, he was the permanent representative of our country to the United Nations.
Today, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is recognized as one of the most influential and respected diplomats and an excellent negotiator, capable of reconciling even opponents who have been unable to reach a consensus for decades.
Now you know who is different years headed Russian diplomacy, and to whom we owe the ups and downs of domestic foreign policy over the past 400 years.
20. Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation 1992-2004. Personal status and political weight.
Ministers:
KOZYREV Andrey Vladimirovich (Appointed on October 11, 1990. Reappointed on July 25, 1991, November 14, 1991, December 23, 1992. Released from office on January 5, 1996 due to his election as a deputy State Duma)
PRIMAKOV Evgeniy Maksimovich (Appointed January 9, 1996. Reappointed August 14, 1996 - IX.1998)
Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich
Sergei Lavrov was born on March 21, 1950 in Moscow. In 1972 he graduated from MGIMO. After graduation, he worked at the USSR Embassy in Sri Lanka. In 1976 - 1981 worked in the department of international economic organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as third and second secretary. In 1981 - 1988 - First Secretary, Advisor, Senior Advisor to the Permanent Mission of the USSR to the UN. In 1988 - 1990 - Deputy, First Deputy Head of the Department of International Economic Relations of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1990 - 1992 served as Director of the Department international organizations And global problems Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, 1992 - 1994 - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs - Director of the Department of International Organizations and Global Issues. In 1994, he was appointed permanent representative of Russia to the UN, as well as to the Council of Transport and Communications. On March 9, 2004, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was appointed to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in the Government of Mikhail Fradkov. In May 2004, after the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, who was elected for the next term, took office, he was again appointed to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Chairman of the Russian Federation Commission for UNESCO (since April 2004).
Primakov Evgeniy Maksimovich
President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation
Born on October 29, 1929 in Kyiv. In 1953 he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies, in 1956 - graduate school at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov. 1956 - 1970 - Correspondent of the State Committee for Radio Broadcasting and Television, newspaper "Pravda". 1970 - 1977 - Deputy Director of the Institute of World Economy and international relations Academy of Sciences of the USSR. 1977 - 1985 - Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. 1985 - 1989 - Director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. 1989 - 1990 - Chairman of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the USSR. 1989 - 1990 - candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. In 1991 - First Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR - Head of the 1st Main Directorate. 1991 - 1996 - Director of the Central Intelligence Service of the USSR, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia. Since January 1996 - Minister of Foreign Affairs Russian Federation. In April 1998, after the resignation of the Chernomyrdin government, by presidential decree he was appointed to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the new cabinet of ministers. On August 23, 1998, Russian President Boris Yeltsin dismissed the cabinet of ministers headed by Sergei Kiriyenko. Viktor Chernomyrdin, whose candidacy twice failed to pass the vote in the State Duma, was appointed acting prime minister on September 10, 1998. The President submitted the candidacy of Yevgeny Primakov to the Duma for consideration. On September 11, 1998, by Resolution of the State Duma of the Russian Federation No. 2961-II GD dated September 11, 1998 (SZ RF, 1998, No. 38), he was approved as Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. Appointed by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1087 dated September 11, 1998 (SZ RF, 1998, No. 37). On May 12, 1999, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was dismissed from the post of Prime Minister (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 580 of May 12, 1999). At the beginning of August 1999, the media reported the appointment of Yevgeny Primakov to the position of geopolitical adviser to the Orenburg governor Vladimir Elagin. On August 17, 1999, Yevgeny Primakov officially announced his consent to head the Fatherland – All Russia election bloc. Together with Yuri Luzhkov, Vladimir Yakovlev, he headed the federal list of OVR. On December 17, 1999, on the eve of the parliamentary elections, Yevgeny Primakov for the first time officially confirmed his intention to run for the presidency of Russia in 2000. On December 19, 1999, he was elected as a deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the third convocation on the federal list of the Fatherland - All Russia electoral bloc. On January 18, 2000, at the first meeting of the State Duma, he was nominated by the Fatherland - All Russia faction as a candidate for the post of Chairman of the Duma. Withdrew his candidacy. On February 4, 2000, Yevgeny Primakov, speaking on television, announced his refusal to participate in the presidential elections. In September 2001, he left the post of head of the OVR faction in the State Duma. In December 2001, he was elected president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.
Ivanov Igor Sergeevich
Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation
Igor Ivanov was born on September 23, 1945 in Moscow. In 1969 he graduated from the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute foreign languages named after Maurice Thorez (since 1990 - Moscow State Linguistic University). Speaks Spanish and English languages. 1969 - 1973 - Junior Researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1973 - second secretary of the First European Department of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1973 - 1977 - Senior engineer of the USSR Trade Representation in Madrid. 1977 - 1983 - First Secretary, Counselor, Minister-Counselor of the USSR Embassy in Spain. 1983 - 1984 - 1st class expert of the European Department of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1984 - 1985 - Advisor to the group under the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. 1985 - 1986 - Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. 1986 - 1989 - Deputy, First Deputy Head - Head of the Department of the General Secretariat of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1989 - 1991 - Head of the General Secretariat of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, member of the Board of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1991 - 1994 - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USSR to Spain, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Spain. Since January 1994 - First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, since January 1995 - Secretary of State - First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. On September 11, 1998, by presidential decree, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. On October 2, 1998, by presidential decree, he was included in the permanent membership of the Security Council. On May 12, 1999, he was dismissed as part of Primakov’s cabinet. He entered the new government in his previous capacity - Minister of Foreign Affairs. Retained this post in subsequent governments (Sergei Stepashin and Vladimir Putin). On May 18, 2000, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in the government of Mikhail Kasyanov. On February 24, 2004, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was dismissed as part of the Government of Mikhail Kasyanov. On March 9, 2004, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was appointed to the post of Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
Kozyrev Andrey Vladimirovich
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
Brussels (Belgium).
Citizenship
A citizen of Russian Federation.
Education
School:
Graduate School: In 1974 he graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a degree in International Relations.
Foreign languages: Fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese.
Leonid Mikhailovich Mlechin
MFA. Ministers of Foreign Affairs. Russian foreign policy. From Lenin and Trotsky to Putin and Medvedev
Preface
Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov is only the fourteenth Minister of Foreign Affairs since October 1917. For comparison: there have been more than twenty ministers of internal affairs and heads of state security over these decades.
Among the minister-diplomats were three academicians (Evgeny Primakov, Vyacheslav Molotov and Andrei Vyshinsky) and one corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences (Dmitry Shepilov). There were brilliantly educated people and those who did not know foreign languages at all and had almost never been abroad before being appointed minister. Two of them held office twice - Vyacheslav Molotov and Eduard Shevardnadze. The shortest ministers were Boris Pankin - less than three months, Leon Trotsky - five months and Dmitry Shepilov - eight and a half months. Andrei Gromyko has lived the longest - twenty-eight years.
Three long time were excluded from the history of diplomacy: these are Trotsky, Vyshinsky and Shepilov. The fourth - Molotov - was crossed out of history by some with curses, while others were triumphantly returned.
Sir Henry Wotton, a British poet and diplomat, wrote on the flyleaf of a book in 1604 his widely accepted definition of a diplomat: “A good man sent abroad to tell lies in the name of his country.” This definition turns the diplomat into just a performer.
All ministers insist that the development of foreign policy is the prerogative of the first person, that they only carry out the will of the Secretary General or the President. But this is deceit. The personality of the minister has a decisive influence on policy formation. Molotov brought dogmatism and stubbornness to politics that Stalin did not have. Shevardnadze went further than Gorbachev in partnership with the West. Under the same president, Yeltsin, Kozyrev tried to make Russia an ally of the West, but Primakov abandoned this line.
Eduard Shevardnadze ceased to be a minister because the state itself disappeared - Soviet Union. Dmitry Shepilov resigned from the post of minister for promotion - secretary of the Central Committee. Andrei Gromyko briefly occupied the high but powerless position of chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Yevgeny Primakov, to the applause of the State Duma, moved from the post of minister directly to the chair of the head of government. Molotov made the opposite journey: he moved from the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Eleven of the fourteen ministers were subjected to harsh criticism: some while still in office, others after resignation or even after death. Some of them are cursed as monsters and demons to this day. The exception is Evgeny Primakov. As a minister, he gained even more supporters and admirers.
Of the fourteen people's commissars and ministers, eight were dismissed or resigned due to dissatisfaction with their work. The owners of the Department of Internal Affairs suffered a more terrible fate - six were shot, two committed suicide; Five of the Lubyanka leaders were shot, others went to prison or fell into disgrace. God has had mercy on foreign ministers. For some reason, Stalin did not destroy even Maxim Litvinov, whose life hung by a thread.
Today life has become simpler. Resigned from the post of minister (obviously not because of at will) Igor Ivanov remains a prominent figure. But in a certain sense, you can sympathize with all the characters in this book.
The famous historian Evgeny Viktorovich Tarle once visited the no less famous lawyer Anatoly Fedorovich Koni. Kony complained about his old age. Tarle said:
Why, Anatoly Fedorovich, it’s a sin for you to complain. Vaughn Briand is older than you, and still hunts tigers.
Aristide Briand was the Prime Minister of France and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 19th century.
Yes,” Kony answered melancholy, “he feels good.” Brian hunts tigers, and here the tigers hunt us.
The reader will quickly see that this book is dedicated not only to people's commissars and foreign ministers, foreign policy and diplomacy. This is another look at the history of our country from 1917 to the present day...
Part one
FOREIGN POLICY AND REVOLUTION
LEO DAVIDOVITCH TROTSKY: “REVOLUTION DOES NOT NEED DIPLOMACY”
On one October Sunday in 1923, the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, people's commissar for military and naval affairs, Politburo member Lev Davidovich Trotsky went hunting, got his feet wet and caught a cold.
« “I fell ill,” he wrote in his autobiographical book. - After the influenza, some kind of cryptogenic temperature appeared. Doctors forbade me to get out of bed. So I lay there the rest of the fall and winter. This means that I missed the 1923 debate against « Trotskyism» . You can foresee revolution and war, but you cannot foresee the consequences of the autumn duck hunt».
The disease really turned out to be fatal. Trotsky went on the hunt that ended so sadly for him in the role of the second man in the country, whose popularity was comparable to Lenin’s. When he recovers in a few months, he will discover that he has become a persecuted oppositionist, deprived of power and surrounded by irreconcilable enemies. And all this, according to Trotsky, happened because an unknown illness unsettled him.
Doctors prescribed bed rest for the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, and he was diligently treated. While the party apparatus was being raised to fight against « Trotskyism» Lev Davidovich was in a sanatorium near Moscow and, preoccupied with his illness, had little understanding of the changes taking place in the country. Well, really, what can you demand from a person who is tormented by a high fever, who is forced to limit his communication to the circle of Kremlin doctors??
It is not difficult, however, to notice the striking contrast between Trotsky and Lenin: already terminally ill, Vladimir Ilyich, despite the strictest prohibitions of doctors, tried to participate in political life country and influence it. Trotsky, having fallen ill, decisively withdraws from all affairs, reflects, remembers, writes. Lenin is eager to get down to business. Trotsky willingly accepts doctors' recommendations: rest and treatment.
The Bolshevik leaders, compensating for the difficulties and inconveniences of their former life, quickly mastered the advantages of their new position. They were treated abroad, mainly in Germany, went to sanatoriums, and went on long vacations. And they did not argue when doctors, who keenly sensed the moods of their high-ranking patients, prescribed them to rest in comfortable conditions.
Russian foreign ministers since 1991 have been different people, who defended various ideas about what role Russia should play in world politics. The first of them - Andrei Kozyrev - advocated cooperation with Western countries, but subsequent ministers sought to defend, first of all,.
Over the past twenty-seven years, the post of minister responsible for foreign relations of the state in our country has been successively occupied by four people:
- Andrey Kozyrev (1991 - 1996);
- Evgeny Primakov (1996 - 1998);
- Igor Ivanov (1998 - 2004);
- Sergey Lavrov (2004 – present).
In 1974, the future minister graduated from MGIMO and began his diplomatic career as an assistant in the Department of International Organizations of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the same time wrote and defended candidate's thesis about the role of the UN in politics. In 1990, the diplomat became the head of the Department, where he worked for many years. After the resignation, Shevardnadze took over the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Andrei Kozyrev was known as a liberal-minded minister who had sympathy for the United States. According to him, during his first visit to this country he was shocked by the number of cars owned by ordinary Americans and their supermarkets.
The minister participated in the development of an agreement on the abolition of the USSR and its replacement with the CIS. During the events of 1993, he supported Boris Yeltsin and his actions. Kozyrev tried to establish allied relations with former rival countries, especially the United States.
In 1996, the politician left the post of minister. For some time he was a deputy of the State Duma, and later focused on international business. Since 2012, the former minister has lived in the United States. He willingly gives interviews in which he criticizes Russia's current policies. Kozyrev expresses confidence in the impending collapse of the “anti-Western” regime of the modern Russian Federation.
Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov is deservedly considered one of the most worthy politicians in our country after 1991. He managed to combine government and scientific activities.
Belonging to an older generation than many of his colleagues, he received a diplomatic education at the predecessor of MGIMO, the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies, which closed in 1954. Later, he was a graduate student at the Faculty of Economics of the country's leading university (MSU) and defended his PhD in economics, and in 1969, his doctorate.
In the 1960s, Evgeniy Maksimovich wrote a lot of journalistic articles about the Middle East and traveled around the region. In the first half of the 1990s, Primakov was responsible for foreign intelligence issues of our country.
In 1996, Primakov took over the post from Minister Kozyrev. It was negatively received by politicians in other countries. Primakov continued to use his predecessor’s term “partnership” in relation to Western countries, but began to add “equal” to it. In 1997, he advocated sanctions against the Baltic countries in response to the oppression of the Russian-speaking population. In 1998, Evgeny Maksimovich became the head of the government, and Igor Ivanov received the ministerial portfolio.
Igor Ivanov was educated at the Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages in 1969 and began working as a research fellow at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. Four years later he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Over the course of seventeen years, he built a successful diplomatic career and in 1995 served as Russia's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Spain. After this, the diplomat became Yevgeny Primakov’s deputy. In 1998, Primakov headed the government, and Ivanov took the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
After six years in a high post, Igor Sergeevich continued to work in the diplomatic field. Until 2007, he was a member of the Russian Security Council. Since 2011 he has been leading Russian Council on international affairs.
Like many Soviet and Russian diplomats, Sergei Viktorovich was educated at MGIMO (at eastern branch). His first assignment was Sri Lanka. Therefore, in addition to the usual for a diplomat European languages, Lavrov knows the Sinhalese language, which is spoken by the largest population of the island.
From 1992 to 1994, Sergei Lavrov served as deputy to Kozyrev, who then served as minister. He later served as our country’s permanent representative to the UN for ten years. In 2004, he received the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs and was reappointed to it several times. In this position, Sergei Viktorovich defends the national interests of Russia. He is known for his strong stance when dealing with foreign diplomats. In Europe and the United States, Lavrov is sometimes called the “second Gromyko” due to the minister’s tough position in the negotiations.
Today Sergei Lavrov is one of the most respected by ordinary citizens Russian politicians together with Vladimir Putin and Timur Shoigu. The lifestyle of the Russian diplomat attracts the attention of the press. Despite the passing years, the minister maintains contacts with his almamater - MGIMO. He enters board of trustees Institute and regularly participates in New Year’s skit parties.
Sergei Viktorovich writes poetry and is interested in poetry. He became the author of the MGIMO anthem. IN recent months Lavrov’s congratulatory poems addressed to the recently deceased Vitaly Churkin, where Sergei Viktorovich speaks warmly and respectfully about his diplomatic colleague, have become popular online. Despite his age, the minister is interested in sports - in particular, rafting and football. In addition to sports, the diplomat loves expensive cigars; there are several comical episodes of how Lavrov put colleagues in their place who tried to prohibit him from smoking in their presence.
Since 1991, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Russia have reflected the policy of the President of Russia in their activities. Kozyrev, in his desire to cooperate with, largely reflected the position of the entire top leadership of the Russian Federation. With the rise of Russia in the late 1990s, the country is reasserting itself as a serious force on the world stage. And the position of its ministers is becoming firmer.
