and development, constant creative renovation of society without stagnation and revolutions." Gryzlov resigned from the office of Parliament speaker on 14 December 2011, amongst accusations of polling fraud orchestrated by the United Russia party in the 2011 Russian Duma elections. Diplomat From December 2015, Gryzlov has been representative of Russia in the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine. On 14 January 2022, president Vladimir Putin appointed Gryzlov as Russian ambassador to the Republic of Belarus. On February 3, Belarusian president Lukashenko received credentials of the new ambassador of Russia. Memorable quotes Following the 2007 Parliamentary elections, Gryzlov responded to criticism of electoral violations saying: They in no way put in doubt the final result. The fact that these violations have been registered shows that we have a transparent ballot. Following the 2009 regional parliamentary elections, Gryzlov stated in response to criticism of electoral violations: Corruption and legal nihilism, inherent to Russian mentality, should not be shifted onto "United Russia" party. Representatives of the nationalist Movement Against Illegal Immigration responded by telling the press that they were offended by such comments. The nationalists attempted to file charges against Gryzlov for belittling the Russian people under the same article used to prosecute nationalists for incitement to inter-ethnic violence, but these allegations were rejected by the prosecutor general. He has also voiced significant support for the controversial Russian inventor Viktor Petrik, even co-signing together with Petrik a number of patent applications. After the Russian Academy of Sciences commission claimed that Petrik was a fraud, Gryzlov denounced the panel as obscurantism. References External links Official web site 1950 births Living people Politicians from Saint Petersburg Interior ministers of Russia Engineers from Saint Petersburg United Russia politicians 21st-century Russian politicians Chairmen of the State Duma Third convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Fourth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Fifth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Russian Federation) Ambassadors of Russia to Belarus Russian individuals subject to the European Union sanctions