Why Russia needs new ambassador to Belarus?

It is supposed to lead to the creation of a full-fledged center of Russian influence, but this is unlikely to happen, the expert believes. 

"I think that Russia would like to reproduce the scheme that existed in Soviet times, when the Soviet ambassador to socialist countries was sort of another center of power, another center of influence along with the local Communist Party leadership. Whether it will work, and whether we will see a confrontation between Lukashenka and Putin, represented by his mediator, is difficult to say, because Lukashenka does not give up his power for nothing," says Valery Karbalevich.

Creating the Russian Lobby

Political observer Pyotr Kuznyatsou calls this appointment a sign of the "master hand."

"Decades of attempts to push integration have proved futile. In Belarus, everything rests on the will of one person, whom Putin has already managed to call "not an easy negotiator".

Thus, obviously, taking advantage of the weakness of official Minsk, the Kremlin seeks to change the very conditions allowing it to act in different directions within Belarus, guaranteeing itself success through different lines of effort.

Given that Lukashenka does not want to share power, an experienced negotiator like Gryzlov is needed.

"The role of the new Russian ambassador in Minsk, given his specific personality, obviously implies both control over the fulfillment of his promises and subsequent work within Belarus to create a large-scale, structured and branched out Russian lobby literally in all spheres and at all levels," assures Pyotr Kuznetsou.

The political weight of Boris Gryzlov is really impressive. He is the chairman of United Russia's supreme council. In 2015, he became Russia's plenipotentiary representative in the contact group for settling the situation in Donbas. Before that, he was Minister of Internal Affairs, Chairman of the State Duma, permanent member of the Russian Security Council, and Chairman of the Rosatom Supervisory Board.