MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. The committee for the affairs of the CIS, Eurasian integration and relations with compatriots of the Russian State Duma has endorsed Boris Gryzlov’s nomination as Russian ambassador to Belarus, a source familiar with the deliberations told TASS.

"The issue was considered behind closed doors," he said. "Yes, an endorsement was given."

Gryzlov, a former Duma speaker, is a senior United Russia official and a presidential envoy for the settlement in eastern Ukraine.

Yevgeny Lukyanov is the incumbent ambassador.

State Duma committees have advisory powers in the appointment of ambassadors, who are nominated by the Foreign Ministry and appointed by the president.