Veteran Diplomat Fond of Cigars, Whiskey and Outfoxing U.S.
Published: September 16, 2013 238 Comments
(Page 2 of 2)
A senior State Department official said the American side was surprised at a lack of specificity in an opening statement by Mr. Lavrov in Geneva, which prompted American experts to insert detailed provisions and deadlines to try to turn it into a workable plan. Mr. Lavrov, a chain-smoker, is known as an old-school diplomat. He flatly ignored an effort by Secretary General Kofi Annan to ban smoking in the United Nations headquarters, saying Mr. Annan did not own the building. He enjoys whiskey and cigars, and his hobbies tend toward action sports like rafting and skiing.
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He can show flashes of anger. When a photographer asked Mr. Lavrov, Mr. Kerry and the special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, to pose after a meeting in Geneva, Mr. Lavrov said: “You don’t give us orders; you just capture the moment.”
Mr. Lavrov, 63, and Mr. Kerry, 69, seem to have formed a quick bond, with late-night dinners, fireside drinks and garden strolls. To some, especially in the West, Mr. Lavrov’s machismo and old-fashioned chivalry sometimes seem to border on sexism. Admirers say it is just gentlemanly charm.
The former Austrian foreign minister, Ursula Plassnik, called Mr. Lavrov “one of the most knowledgeable and respected foreign policy actors in the global village.” On her first visit to Moscow, she said, Mr. Lavrov was waiting for her outside the legendary Café Pushkin with a bunch of yellow roses.
“In backstage discussions, I occasionally had to remind Sergey Lavrov not to try to ‘bulldoze’ me or others, which he usually accepted with a smile,” she said. “I was not the least surprised to see him move center stage with ease and determination in the Syrian crisis management.”
That Mr. Lavrov was enjoying the moment in Geneva was clear to the Russian reporters who cover him. Still, he was not happy as much as satisfied, they said. Approached with a question early Saturday outside the hotel, Mr. Lavrov told a Spanish-language television reporter that she was “beautiful.” Before the news conference, he joked with reporters, apologizing for the wait.
A reporter tried to get ahead of the announcement asking, “Have you got an agreement?” Mr. Lavrov quipped, “So bloodthirsty.” When another asked if he had spoken to the Syrian government, he said, “No, have you?”
He bantered in perfect English, though when asked to answer a question in English during the news conference later, he refused, insisting on Russian during the formal proceedings.
Georgi I. Mirsky, a political scientist at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, said that the Syria plan was really Mr. Putin’s but that Mr. Lavrov will get the credit.
“In history textbooks, it will be Lavrov and Kerry — Lavrov the great man, he saves Syria from American military strikes, and also saves Barack Obama from a humiliating and embarrassing situation in the Congress,” Mr. Mirsky said. “He is a bureaucrat, he is a good diplomat. He knows the score. And he will never ever say anything that will contradict the official line.”
Mr. Mirsky added: “Of course, there is a certain dose of risk here, because Bashar Assad may spoil the whole picture. If he decides to use chemical weapons again, it will be very nasty.”
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