Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confessed Monday that his way of life is far from healthy but said that good genes and regular exercise help keep him fit and trim.
Lavrov was speaking at Don State Technical University in Rostov-on-Don, where a first-year female student told the diplomat that he cuts a stylish, cultured and manly figure and asked him how he manages it.
"If I told you about my way of life, it probably would not serve as a good example of how to preserve one's health. But I do exercise," Lavrov said, Interfax reported.
The foreign minister also credited his "mom, dad, and genes."
Lavrov, a chronic chain-smoker, famously ignored then-United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's 2003 ban on smoking on UN premises.
He is also known to be fond of cigars and fine whiskey.