Russian and Soviet foreign ministers of the past 50 years

Andrei Gromyko served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union in 1957–1985. Photo: Andrei Gromyko cutting the grass, 1971

Among his achievements were the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1968, the ABM Treaty and SALT I, as well as the Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1973. Photo: Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and US Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz, 1973

Eduard Shevardnadze was foreign minister under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 -1990. In November 1991 Shevardnadze returned briefly as Soviet Foreign Minister but resigned when the Soviet Union was formally dissolved

Eduard Shevardnadze played a key role in the process that marked the end of the Cold War. Photo: French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac meeting with Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze, 1986

Alexander Bessmertnykh served as a Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR in 1991, replacing Eduard Shevardnadze. He took part in the signing of the Soviet-American START-1 Treaty in July 1991. Photo: Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Alexander Bessmertnykh and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico Fernando Solana Morales

Boris Pankin served as Foreign Minister before the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 only for few months. He managed to establish diplomatic relations with the State of Israel and to begin the Soviet-US disarmament process

Andrei Kozyrev became the first foreign minister of Russia from October 1991 until January 1996. Photo: Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev and German foreign minister Klaus Kinkel, 1993

As Russia's foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev emphasized cooperation over conflict with the United States. Kozyrev's position in relations with West earned him the title of Mr. Yes. Photo: Andrei Kozyrev (right), 1992

In 1992, Andrei Kozyrev, together with Ministers of Foreign Affairs from the Baltic Sea area and an EU commissioner, founded the Council of the Baltic Sea States. Photo: Andrei Kozyrev in Russia's northwestern city of Murmansk, 1994

Yevgeny Primakov served as foreign minister in 1996 - 1998. He was an opponent of NATO's expansion into the former Eastern bloc, though on 27 May 1997 Russia and NATO signed the Foundation Act, a road map for future NATO-Russia cooperation. Photo: NATO Secretary General Javier Solana and Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov in Berlin, 1996

Igor Ivanov was Foreign Minister of Russia from 1998 to 2004. While in office he opposed NATO's action in Yugoslavia and US invasion of Iraq.

Sergei Lavrov was appointed as Russia's Foreign Minister in 2004. Photo: Sergei Lavrov at the 51st Security Conference in Munich, Germany

Photo: Russian Foreign Minister, President of the Rowing Federation of Russia Sergei Lavrov during the opening of the Cup of Russia on a rowing slalom

Photo: Former Russian Foreign Ministers Igor Ivanov and Yevgeny Primakov and acting Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting of the Russian International Affairs Council