InfoAnda - Russia's Lavrov perfects the art of saying Nyet |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

World Water Forum tackles freshwater crisis | 16 March 2009
Saudi king to seek medical treatment in U.S. | | 21 November 2010
Tyra: `Top Model' auditions to resume after melee | 17 March 2009

SK Energy to sell $2.4 bln stake in Brazil unit | 23 December 2010

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Russia's Lavrov perfects the art of saying Nyet |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Aerospace & Defense Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Campaign Polling Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Anatole Kaletsky Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Frederick Kempe Christopher Papagianis Mark Leonard Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Olympics Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Full Focus Photos of the week Our top photos of the week. See more Images of July Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Historic Curiosity probe lands safely on Mars 4:17am EDT Seven dead in shooting at Wisconsin Sikh temple | 2:21am EDT NASA receives first images from newly landed Mars rover Curiosity 1:46am EDT Knight getting costly $400 million lifeline after trading debacle 12:43am EDT NASA receives first images from newly landed Mars rover Curiosity 1:48am EDT Discussed 223 Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret U.S. support for Syrian rebels 160 Union leader strives to ease Obama’s ”white guy problem” 107 Chick-fil-A faces ”kiss-in” protest in gay marriage flap Sponsored Links Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more The surface of Mars The continuing search for signs of life on the Red Planet. Slideshow Olympic bloopers Olympic athletes succumb to gravity when they flip, trip or fall. Slideshow Russia's Lavrov perfects the art of saying "Nyet" Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Syrian army moves on rebels in Aleppo, Damascus Fri, Aug 3 2012 U.N. nations condemn Syria; Russia, China seen isolated Fri, Aug 3 2012 UPDATE 3-Russia says ships not docking in Syria Fri, Aug 3 2012 Frustrated Annan quits as Syria peace envoy Thu, Aug 2 2012 Putin weighs into punk trial after judo gold Thu, Aug 2 2012 Analysis & Opinion In Putin’s circle, Obama is Gorbachev Beyond the gaffes, Romney misleads and veers right Related Topics World » Russia » United Nations » Syria » Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, accompanied by his counterpart from Cyprus Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, attends a news conference in Moscow, July 25, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov Mon Aug 6, 2012 3:07am EDT (Please note strong language in paragraph 33) By Timothy Heritage (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said "No" to the West so many times over Syria that he may come to rival a Cold War predecessor for the title of "Mr Nyet". The chain-smoking, battle-hardened diplomat is proving every bit as formidable as the long-serving Soviet stalwart Andrei Gromyko as Moscow holds out against a U.S.-led push for new sanctions on Syria and the removal of President Bashar al-Assad. Lavrov is the cause of much hand-wringing and frustration in the West, where his country's policies are seen as an obstacle to ending the bloodshed in Syria. But he has won plaudits in Russia for his stubborn defence of Moscow's position. For hawkish President Vladimir Putin, back in the Kremlin after a four-year absence, he is the right person in the right place at the right time. At 62, the former U.N. ambassador seems to be relishing the challenge. Long accustomed to criticism, Lavrov has made an art of stonewall diplomacy and shrugs off each new attack on Russia's position on Syria by simply restating policy. "It's a diplomatic game for Sergei Lavrov," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the Russia in Global Affairs magazine. Anyone who doubted Lavrov's stubbornness before the conflict in Syria should look back to 2003, when he defied attempts by then U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to impose a smoking ban at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Lavrov carried on smoking, saying Annan "doesn't own this building". Described by both admirers and rivals as highly professional and a tough negotiator, he also has a sharp tongue. Annan said he "learnt to appreciate both his wisdom and his wit". In nearly a decade as Moscow's U.N. envoy - a post also held by Gromyko before becoming foreign minister in Soviet times - Lavrov won a reputation for digging in his heels. It was there he honed his skills in the cut and thrust of diplomacy which would at times be used later to antagonize rivals or partners who saw the world differently, including former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Glenn Kessler, a veteran journalist and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a U.S. think tank, described him as "a showman who doesn't hesitate to use a diplomatic stiletto". Of his relationship with Rice: he knew how to "push her buttons", Kessler said. BUILDING UP RUSSIA'S IMAGE Lavrov's expertise and reputation as a strong negotiator made him a natural choice for Putin when the president sought to replace Igor Ivanov as foreign minister in July 2004. Although Putin is in charge of foreign policy as head of state, Russian experts say Lavrov is more than just an executor of policies dictated to him by the Kremlin. "There's no one to touch him in terms of professionalism and as a communicator," said Vladimir Frolov, the former director of the National Laboratory for Foreign Policy think tank who is now head of a communication company called LEFF Group. "His independence depends on the issue. On Syria he is clearly very influential. He's pretty much the driver of policy and he can claim with some credibility that he's pulled Russia back into the centre of international decision-making." In the West, he and his country are assailed for blocking calls for Assad to leave power. When Annan quit as special envoy for Syria on Thursday, he complained of "finger-pointing and name-calling in the Security Council" and a lack of will for peace among the protagonists. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vented her frustration last month, saying Russia and China would "pay a price" for using their Security Council veto power to help keep the Syrian leader in power. Lavrov's unsmiling response was simply to restate Russia's position, underlining that its policy was not shaped around keeping any individual in power and suggesting Moscow was being subjected to blackmail to force it to change its position. Moscow's stance is shaped partly by hard-nosed interests. Russia has a naval maintenance facility in Syria and sells arms to Damascus. It wants to keep a foothold in the Middle East. But its battle is also ideological: Russia wants to halt what it sees as a Western drive to use the United Nations to topple leaders the West dislikes. There is no doubt Lavrov supports Moscow's policy on this wholeheartedly. THE "REAL LAVROV" Putin's return to the Kremlin in May also appears to suit Lavrov, who kept his job when the relatively liberal Dmitry Medvedev was elected president in 2008 after Putin was barred by the constitution from seeking a third straight term. A senior Moscow-based diplomat said Lavrov had a "much greater voice" in the government since Putin's return to the presidency and that "the real Lavrov" was back. Lavrov, a career diplomat whose first posting was to Sri Lanka, will not stay in office as long as Gromyko, who was Soviet foreign minister for 28 years and earned the nickname Mr Nyet for blocking Western moves at the United Nations. But Lavrov, who is said by diplomatic sources to respect Gromyko, has shown he is a political survivor by keeping his job for eight years, despite talk of rivalry between him and Kremlin foreign policy adviser Sergei Prikhodko. A member of the United Russia party that was led until recently by Putin, he is a pragmatist and has survived partly by presenting himself as a professional diplomat and avoiding playing any overt role in domestic politics. Lavrov, who speaks English, French and Sinhalese, has come through repeated crises, defending Moscow's policies just as firmly on issues such as democracy and human rights as on the 2008 war with Georgia and wars with the rebel Chechnya region. RAFTING AND SMOKING It has not always been easy. When serving at the U.N. headquarters under President Boris Yeltsin, whose grip on power was often weaker than Putin's, Lavrov sometimes had to endure a frustrating wait for instructions. Once when he told fellow Security Council representatives that he was waiting for instructions from the government, he was heard mumbling: "That is, if I have a government." When Russia was pressing for sanctions to be eased on Iraq, a U.S. official in a closed Security Council session told Lavrov that this would be like "approving a restaurant with cockroaches in the soup." According to diplomatic sources, Lavrov answered: "We are not asking you to give Iraq five stars. We only want you to say that it is Kentucky Fried Chicken." On one occasion he was reported by a British newspaper to have lost his cool by swearing at then British Foreign Secretary David Miliband during a telephone call on the Georgia war. The Foreign Ministry denied the report. Lavrov said he had quoted a European colleague who had referred to Georgia's leader as a "fucking lunatic". Lavrov, who is married with one daughter, likes to relax by white-water rafting with old friends once a year, plays the guitar and has written poetry as well as the anthem of the elite foreign relations institute in Moscow where he studied. He does not suffer fools. If he loses patience, he will ask: "What are you talking about?" If he does not want to speak to reporters, he pins his cell phone to his ear. "He reached for a Marlboro whenever he could and enjoyed a glass of scotch whisky," said Evelyn Leopold, who covered him for years as a former Reuters U.N. correspondent. Whatever Annan says, Lavrov will smoke if he wants to. (Reporting By Timothy Heritage; Editing by Peter Graff) World Russia United Nations Syria Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Monday, 6 August 2012
Al Qaeda prisoners try to tunnel out of Iraqi jail |
Islamists kill 15 Egyptians, Israel strikes attackers |
Red Cross attacked with rockets, grenades in Libya |
Israel says group of terrorists attack Egypt border post |
West Bank summit scrapped after Israel bars envoys |
IMF mission to discuss loans in Egypt this month |
New games, cost cuts may push Activision shares up 50 percent: Barron's |
Total Recall remake struggles to recall original's success |
Conor Maynard storms into UK charts with debut album |
Three-time winner Batman knocks down Total Recall |
The top films at the North American box office |
Assad's forces pound rebel stronghold in Aleppo |
Islamists kill 15 Egyptians, Israel strikes attackers |
China media tell U.S. to shut up over South China Sea tensions |
Russia's Lavrov perfects the art of saying Nyet |
Blast on pipeline stops Iraq oil flows to Turkey-officials |
Gang war fears see Macau police detain 150, Hong Kong arrest 130 |
Sean Penn joins Chavez on campaign in Venezuela |
Bus accident kills 23 Angolan soccer fans |
Apple and Samsung take Australian legal battle to the hot tub |
Samsung Electronics shares rise more than 4 percent |
Sharp's options narrowing to future as Hon Hai parts maker |
Sharp extends slide after hitting 36-year closing low |
Sean Penn joins Chavez on campaign in Venezuela |
Blast kills four in Russia's volatile Chechnya |
Iran airs confessions in killings of nuclear scientists |
UK coalition suffers crisis as partners squabble |
Jailed Russian tycoon says punk rock band trial medieval |
Six dead in pre-dawn raid on Ivory Coast military camp |
Myanmar lifts suspensions on journals after protests |
Malian youth, Islamists clash over planned amputation |
Sri Lanka releases 37 Chinese fishermen |
Total Recall remake struggles to recall original's success |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01