27 Facts About Yevgeny Primakov

Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov was a Russian politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999.

Yevgeny Primakov was born in Kyiv in the Ukrainian SSR, and grew up in Tbilisi in the Georgian SSR.

Yevgeny Primakov had been imprisoned in the Gulag during the Stalinist purges.

Yevgeny Primakov was educated at the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies, graduating in 1953, and did postgraduate work at Moscow State University.

Yevgeny Primakov became involved in national politics in 1989, as the Chairman of the Soviet of the Union, one of two houses of the Soviet parliament.

Yevgeny Primakov served as Gorbachev's special envoy to Iraq in the run-up to the Persian Gulf War, in which capacity he held talks with President Saddam Hussein to try to convince him to withdraw Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

Yevgeny Primakov preserved the old KGB foreign intelligence apparatus under the new SVR label, and led no personnel purges or structural reforms.

Yevgeny Primakov served as SVR director from 1991 until 1996.

Yevgeny Primakov served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from January 1996 until September 1998.

Yevgeny Primakov was famously an advocate of multilateralism as an alternative to American global hegemony following the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War.

Yevgeny Primakov called for a Russian foreign policy based on low-cost mediation while expanding influence towards the Middle East and the former Soviet republics.

On 24 March 1999, Yevgeny Primakov was heading to Washington, DC for an official visit.

Yevgeny Primakov decided to cancel the visit, ordered the plane to turn around over the ocean and returned to Moscow in a manoeuvre popularly dubbed "Yevgeny Primakov's Loop".

Many analysts believed the firing of Yevgeny Primakov reflected Yeltsin's fear of losing power to a more successful and popular person, although sources close to Yeltsin said at the time that the president viewed Yevgeny Primakov as being too close to the Communist Party.

Yevgeny Primakov had refused to dismiss Communist ministers while the Communist Party was leading the process of preparing unsuccessful impeachment proceedings against the president.

Since 1988, Yevgeny Primakov was the Academician Secretary of the World Economy and International Relations Division, director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations and the member of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Yevgeny Primakov officially abandoned the presidential race in his TV address on 4 February 2000 less than two months before the 26 March presidential elections.

On 14 December 2001, Yevgeny Primakov became President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a position he held until 2011.

Yevgeny Primakov brought a message to Baghdad from Putin to call for Hussein to resign voluntarily.

Yevgeny Primakov tried to prevent the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, a move which received some support from several nations opposed to the war.

Yevgeny Primakov suggested that Hussein must hand over all Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to the United Nations, among other things.

On 26 May 2008, Yevgeny Primakov was elected as a member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In November 2004, Yevgeny Primakov testified in defense of the former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, on trial for war crimes.

Yevgeny Primakov had earlier led a Russian delegation that met with Milosevic during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in March 1999.

Yevgeny Primakov died in Moscow on June 26,2015, at the age of 85, after prolonged illness.

Yevgeny Primakov was buried with military honours at Novodevichy Cemetery.

In honor of Yevgeny Primakov, Yevgeny Primakov Readings was established in October 2015 - an annual international summit aimed at promoting dialogue on current global trends in the world economy, international politics and security among high-ranking experts, diplomats and decision-makers from around the Globe, organized by the Institute of World Economy and International Relations and held in Moscow.