He received his first Soviet diplomatic posting in Sri Lanka, and speaks fluent Sinhala, Dhivehi, English, and French, in addition to his native Russian.

"[15] Several Obama administration officials interviewed for a profile on Lavrov described him as an “anti-diplomat” with “nothing redeemable” about his “uncharismatic, offensive, uncompromising, cruel, unlikeable, brusque, caddish” character.

[16] On 15 January 2020, he resigned as part of the cabinet, after President Vladimir Putin delivered the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, in which he proposed several amendments to the constitution.

[19] In September 2013, then Secretary of State John Kerry and Lavrov reached a breakthrough agreement that would destroy almost all chemical weapons stored in Assad's Syria.

[23] After the March 2014 Crimean status referendum,[24] Lavrov proposed that Ukraine should be independent of any bloc, that the Russian language be recognised officially, and that the constitution be organised along federal lines.

[25] In an interview with the Russia-24 TV channel, Lavrov said that the zero-sum "either-or" bloc-politics of Ukraine were first suggested in 2004 by Karel De Gucht, then Foreign Minister of Belgium.

[27] In a 30 March interview, he spoke of the 21 February agreement which was signed by Viktor Yanukovich, Vitaly Klitchko, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and Oleg Tyagnibok as well as the Foreign Ministers of Poland, France and Germany to promote peaceful changes in Ukrainian power.

[28] While Lavrov acknowledged that Russia is in contact with the Ukrainian separatist rebels he denied US and EU allegations that Moscow sponsored the rebellion and accused the United States of aggravating the conflict.

[34] Businesses involved in Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany have been sanctioned by the United States with the passing of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 on 20 December 2019.

"[39] As early as 2011 Lavrov criticized the status of "non-citizens" in Latvia and Estonia, calling the problem of Russian speaking stateless persons "shameful for the EU.

[45] On 4 February 2022, Lavrov dismissed as "nonsense" and "craziness" allegations by the United States that Russia was preparing a fake video of the Ukrainian forces attacking the separatist-held Donbas as a pretext for starting a war in Ukraine.

[56] On 1 March most diplomats at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva staged a walkout in protest at the Russian invasion of Ukraine as Lavrov began to speak to the assembly via video from Moscow.

[57] Lavrov criticized the West on some policies relating to Ukraine, denouncing his prevention on flying to Geneva due to the ban on Russian aircraft on EU airspace as "Trying to avoid a candid face-to-face dialogue or direct contacts designed to help identify political solutions to pressing international issues."

He continued that Zelenskyy did not improve the situation any further, and that Putin had to order the invasion of Ukraine, because the US did not comply or even address the security concerns of Russia's western flank.

At the same time, Lavrov tries to portray the current Ukrainian government as "nationalistic" and "right wing" because it does not incorporate historical and linguistic ties to Russia into national policies, and only excels to separate itself from a shared history and culture.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield had spearheaded the effort and Dmytro Kuleba thought it appropriate and published his thanks while UK Ambassador James Roscoe observed of the Putin administration who tried to quit the body after the fact that it sounded "like someone that's just been fired tendering their resignation.

"[69] On 1 May 2022, in an interview with the Italian television broadcaster Rete 4,[70] Lavrov was asked why Russia claimed it needed to "denazify" Ukraine, considering the Ukrainian president himself, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is Jewish.

Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett condemned Lavrov's comments and said that "using the Holocaust of the Jewish people as a political tool must cease immediately".

[72][74] On 5 May, Bennett's office issued a statement saying: "The Prime Minister accepted President Putin's apology for Lavrov's remarks and thanked him for clarifying his attitude towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust".

Lavrov replied: "It's a great pity but international diplomats, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Secretary-General and other UN representatives, are being put under pressure by the West.

[84] On 26 July 2022, he said: "We are determined to help the people of eastern Ukraine to liberate themselves from the burden of this absolutely unacceptable regime,"[85] On 11 September 2022, Lavrov said that he has not given up on the idea of peace talks with Kyiv.

An aide subsequently released a video on Telegram showing Lavrov laughing at such reports from his hotel in Bali, claiming Western media was at fault for "some kind of game".

[88] On 28 December, Lavrov stated on national television: "I am convinced that thanks to our perseverance, patience and determination, we will defend the noble goals that are vital for our people and our country".

He also stated that peace talks with Ukraine would only resume if it recognized the annexation of the four regions only partially occupied: "They should become free from the threat of Nazification that they have faced for many years".

Because of intense diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Russian Federation, a new deal would allow Ukraine to export another twenty-five million tons of grain and foodstuff to underdeveloped countries.

[102][103] On 6 July 2022, he met with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn in Hanoi and called Vietnam a "key partner" of Russia in ASEAN.

His mission to these countries was initiated by a meeting with the newly elected Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who announced his position to negotiate in the conflict and to lay partial blame on Ukraine for the war.

[116] In August 2023, Lavrov attended the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa in the place of President Vladimir Putin, who subsequently appeared via video link.

[122] On 28 December 2023, Lavrov praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not criticizing Russia in public statements, unlike his predecessor, Yair Lapid.

[123][124] In June 2024, Lavrov thanked Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for China's decision not to attend the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland.