A biography for Sergei Lavrovhasn’t been written yet.
“Every country has its political face and political traditions.”
“Sanctions are a sign of irritation; they are not the instrument of serious policies.”
“The attempts to distort the truth and to hide the facts behind blanket accusations have been undertaken at all stages of the Ukrainian crisis.”
“You cannot strengthen the law by violating the law.”
“I very much hope that the United States will finally... realise that they can no longer act as the prosecutor, the judge, and the executioner in every part of the world and that they need to cooperate to resolve issues.”
“Russia has been entirely proportionate in its military response to Georgia's attack on Russian citizens and peacekeepers.”
“We have been getting out of the situation where we found ourselves in the early '90s, when the Soviet Union disappeared and the Russian Federation became what it is - you know, with no borders, with no budget, no money, and with huge problems starting with lack of food and so on and so forth.”
“We have no desire to continue a sanctions war, trading blows.”
“The Russian Federation and the United States of America, the two biggest nuclear powers in the world, but apart from nuclear-wise, we have a lot in common. We have huge territories, natural resources, technologies, science, education, and of course human capital.”
“You cannot defeat Islamic State with airstrikes only. It's necessary to cooperate with ground troops, and the Syrian army is the most efficient and powerful ground force to fight the Islamic State.”
“We provide transit facilities, we cooperate in equipping the Afghan army and security forces with arms and helicopters, we cooperate in training officers for law enforcement agencies.”
“I can only say it is not for us to decide who should lead Syria. It is for the Syrians to decide.”
“We still believe that if the Russian Federation and the United States bring their minds together, we can develop a common system which would be efficient in protecting the Euro-Atlantic region from threats coming outside this region.”
“Russia and the U.S. have unique experience in ensuring the safety and security of nuclear material.”
“Crimea was not a non-nuclear zone in an international law sense but was part of Ukraine, a state which doesn't possess nuclear arms.”
“When the Georgian army started this assault against the sleeping city of Tskhinvali, the Georgian peacekeepers, serving in one contingent with their Russian friends, joined the army and started killing the Russian comrades in arms.”
“Our stand is crystal-clear - we want peace in Ukraine, which can only be attained through broad national dialogue in which all regions and all political forces of the country must participate.”
“In the spirit of commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, we will strive to achieve real progress in disarmament and arms control.”
“If it acts like a terrorist, if it walks like a terrorist, if it fights like a terrorist, it's a terrorist, right?”
“Russia and the U.S. must jointly manage expectations to ensure that attempts to 'reset' our relationship succeed.”