Andrei Kozyrev, Russian Foreign Minister

Date and place of birth: March 27, 1951, Brussels.

What does his name mean: Soothsayer Milja Vujanovic says it is a sure sign that he is the devil's emissary (Koza (goat in Serbian) is a symbol for Satan). The dictionary says that a Kozyr is a trump card.

Career: As the son of a diplomat, he graduated from Moscow's Economic Institute for International Relations in 1974 and received a doctorate in 1977 from the Diplomatic Academy. He held a number of minor posts and went on the become head of the Foreign Ministry administration department under Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze. He became the Russian Federation's Foreign Minister after Boris Yeltsin won the presidential elections in 1991. He speaks English, French and Spanish fluently.

Characteristics: As the youngest Foreign Minister in Russian history, he built a new image for his country slowly and persistently. He helped Yeltsin overcome the mistrust of the West and neighbors' fears of the Russian Bear. He also established good relations with China and the Islamic countries. As the greatest advocate of western trends in Russian politics, he was always the first target of nationalist and communist attacks.

What he will be remembered for: His speech at the CSCE session in Stockholm in December 1992, when he announced tenser relations with NATO over the former Soviet Baltic republics, demanded the immediate lifting of the sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and stressed that Belgrade can count on Moscow's full support, but then later explained that he only wanted to cause concern among the participants in the session.

Did it cause concern?: It did. Lawrence Eagleburger had a heart problem and Klaus Kinkel got panicky. Yet the main effect was stronger western support for Russian reformists.

The basis of his global policies: "In Europe, we are Christians, in Asia, Muslims. That's not duplicity, but an expression of Russia's multi-ethnicity".

His basic view of the war in former Yugoslavia: "We are traditional Serb friends, but also traditional friends to the other Slav peoples who live on that territory."

His basic view of the Serbian regime: Changeable. At first, it was extremely friendly: during his first visit to Belgrade (May 1992), he spoke of "the eternal brotherhood of the Russian and Serb people"; later it was tough: "We want to stop the people in Belgrade who are betraying the interests of true Serbs and waging a war of destruction with their Slav neighbors" (July 1992); it softened when Milosevic urged the Bosnian Serbs to accept the Vance-Owen peace plan and established a new "peaceful option". After the success of "patriots" in parliamentary elections in Moscow, relations with the West got tense and he drew closer to Milosevic. At the moment, he is opposing more NATO air strikes and urging the lifting of the sanctions.

How he has been received in Serbia: Warmly at first, but with some apprehension. In May 1992 he got a warm welcome, but was stopped from visiting Sarajevo after Belgrade and Podgorica (his helicopter was turned back halfway to Sarajevo for "security reasons"). Then, with open hostility: he was called an American mercenary who will inevitably lose his job in official comments, while there was hope that the patriotic Rutskoi-Khazbulatov faction would win in Moscow. Once the Russian White House rebellion was put down, he gained gradual respect, but relations grew tense once more over Russian support for NATO air strikes on Serb positions around Gorazde. He's a welcome guest once again since the Contact Group was formed and Milosevic split up with Karadzic.

What is the Belgrade-Moscow relationship based on now?: On Belgrade's realization that "Kozyrev is going to be Foreign Minister as long as Yeltsin is President" (S. Grizunov, Russian Information Minister) and Moscow's realization that "the only way to get the Bosnian Serbs to accept the peace plan leads through Milosevic" (Kozyrev).