Igor Ivanov

Igor Sergeyevich Ivanov ( _ru. И́горь Серге́евич Ивано́в) (b. September 23, 1945 in Moscow) became the Russian Foreign Minister in 1998, succeeding Yevgeny Primakov.

He is the son of a Russian father and a Georgian mother. In 1969 he graduated at the Maurice Thorez Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages (Moscow State Linguistic University). He joined the Soviet Foreign Ministry in 1973 and spent a decade in Spain. He returned to the Soviet Union in 1983. In 1991 he became the ambassador in Madrid. He was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs on September 11, 1998.

As Russian foreign minister, Ivanov was an opponent of NATO's action in Yugoslavia, calling the Russian peacekeeping mission in Kosovo a mistake. He was also an opponent of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Ivanov played a key role in mediating a deal between Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and opposition parties during Georgia's "Rose Revolution" in 2003.

Ivanov was succeeded to the post of foreign minister by Sergey Lavrov in 2004, and appointed by President Vladimir Putin to the post of Secretary of the Security Council (national security advisor).

On July 9, 2007 he submitted his resignation. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/world/europe/10briefs-Ray-Ivanov.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Russia: Security Council Official Resigns] , Andrew E. Kramer, "New York Times", July 10, 2007.] On July 18, President Putin accepted Ivanov's resignation and appointed KGB veteran Valentin Sobolev as acting secretary.

References

* [http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/Personer.exe?830 Personal data sheet: Igor Ivanov]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/intl/article/0,9171,1107990913-30994,00.html "Igor Ivanov", TIME magazine, September 13, 1999; ]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/2802121.stm Bridget Kendall interview with Ivanov, BBC, March 5, 2003]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2820787.stm comments]
* [http://research.rencap.com/eng/government/government_detail19.asp Igor Ivanov]