guided by the Constitution, federal constitutional laws, federal laws, acts of the President and the Government, and international treaties. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is appointed to the post by the President on the proposal of the Prime Minister. The Minister is personally responsible for the implementation of the powers entrusted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the implementation of state policy in the relevant area of work. The Minister has deputies, also appointed by the President. Minister of Foreign Affairs The Minister of Foreign Affairs is the head of the Foreign Ministry. The Minister represents Russia in bilateral and multilateral negotiations and signs international treaties; divides responsibilities between his deputies and the Director-General; approves regulations for the structural subdivisions of the central apparatus; and appoints senior officials from the central apparatus, foreign agencies and territorial bodies. Russia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations The Permanent Mission of Russia to the United Nations is one of the most important foreign offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Permanent Mission conducts negotiations on behalf of the Russian Federation on the most important problems of international relations. The Representative Office is headed by the Permanent Representative appointed by the President on the proposal of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Permanent Representative represents Russia in all UN structures, including meetings of the Security Council. In special cases, the Minister for Foreign Affairs himself may take his place. In terms of the number of staff, the Russian mission is one of the largest at the UN. There is even a secondary school with a profound study of English. List of heads of Foreign Affairs Overseas schools The ministry operates a network of overseas schools for children of Russian diplomats. First Deputy Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation Fyodor Shelov-Kovedyayev (19 October 1991 – 16 October 1992) Pyotr Aven (11 November 1991 – 22 February 1992) Anatoly Adamishin (16 October 1992 – 14 November 1994) Igor Ivanov (30 December 1993 – 24 September 1998) Boris Pastukhov (3 February 1996 – 25 September 1998) Aleksandr Avdeyev (30 October 1998 – 21 February 2002) Vyacheslav Trubnikov (28 June 2000 – 29 July 2004) Valery Loshchinin (22 February 2002 – 26 December 2005) Eleonora Mitrofanova (21 May 2003 – 13 August 2004) Andrei Denisov (8 April 2006 – 22 April 2013) Current First Deputy Foreign Minister