MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. Russia’s newly-appointed ambassador to Belarus, Boriz Gryzlov, has told TASS that he will retain his position of Russia’s special representative in the Contact Group on a settlement in eastern Ukraine.

"Since 2015, under a presidential decree, I have been Russia’s special representative in the Contact Group for a settlement in Ukraine," Gryzlov said in his first interview following the appointment to the new post.

Gryzlov recalled that while holding the position of the State Duma’s speaker in 2003-2011 Gryzlov also chaired the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State. The Contact Group until April 2020, the moment it began to hold video conferences, had operated in Minsk.

"It will not be an exaggeration to say that a large share of my activity, if not the main one, has been associated with Belarus for the past 15 years," he said.

Gryzlov said that before his departure to Minsk he was going to hold "a number of working consultations at the Foreign Ministry and the presidential staff, which take some time."

Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Gryzlov as Russia’s new ambassador to Belarus. The presidential decree was uploaded to the official portal of legal information on January 14. In accordance with another decree Gryzlov’s predecessor, Yevgeny Lukyanov, was relieved of his duties. He had led the Russian diplomatic mission in Minsk since March 2021.