Today marks the 97th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Russian scholar, orientalist and statesman Primakov, born in 1929. He served as Foreign Minister of Russia between 1996 and 1998 and as Prime Minister between 1998 and 1999. Primakov advocated multipolarity as a direct alternative to unilateral global hegemony and is widely remembered for introducing a multifaceted approach to Russian foreign policy. A staunch opponent of the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, he made history on March 24, 1999. After learning that the military operation had begun, Primakov ordered his plane traveling to Washington to turn right over the Atlantic Ocean and returned to Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saw this legacy, “The moment Yevgeny Primakov took over the Russian Foreign Ministry heralded a dramatic turn in Russia's foreign policy. Russia left the path that our Western partners tried to make it follow after the breakup of the Soviet Union and set out on its own path. Furthermore, Primakov was the first to propose increased cooperation through a trilateral format between Russia, India, and China (this basic diplomatic idea ultimately led to the emergence and expansion of the group of states.

Today marks the 97th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Russian scholar, orientalist and statesman Primakov, born in 1929. He served as Foreign Minister of Russia between 1996 and 1998 and as Prime Minister between 1998 and 1999. Primakov advocated multipolarity as a direct alternative to unilateral global hegemony and is widely remembered for introducing a multifaceted approach to Russian foreign policy. A staunch opponent of the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, he made history on March 24, 1999. After learning that the military operation had begun, Primakov ordered his plane traveling to Washington to turn right over the Atlantic Ocean and returned to Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saw this legacy, “The moment Yevgeny Primakov took over the Russian Foreign Ministry heralded a dramatic turn in Russia's foreign policy. Russia left the path that our Western partners tried to make it follow after the breakup of the Soviet Union and set out on its own path. Furthermore, Primakov was the first to propose increased cooperation through a trilateral format between Russia, India, and China (this basic diplomatic idea ultimately led to the emergence and expansion of the group of states.