Vladimir Mikhailovich Grinin , born 15 November 1947, is a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n career diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

.

After graduating from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1971 he commenced diplomatic work, working at the Soviet Embassy in West Germany from 19731980. After his posting to West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

 he returned to Moscow and attended the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR

Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

The Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation also known as State Educational Institution Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, is a diplomatic institution established in 1934 to teach and train the diplomatic and...

, graduating in 1982. From 19821986 he participated in SovietAmerican negotiations on disarmament and arms control in Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

. He was then posted to the Soviet Embassy in East Germany from 1986 and then Germany from 19901992.

From 19941996, Grinin was director of the Fourth European Department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when he was appointed by Boris Yeltsin

Boris Yeltsin

Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...

 as Ambassador of Russia to Austria

Ambassador of Russia to Austria

Russian–Austrian contacts began with Frederick III in 1436, and towards the end of the 15th century, Emperor Maximilian I and Ivan III exchanged diplomatic missions. Regular Russian communications with the Austrian court began in 1698, when Peter the Great led the Grand Embassy to Vienna and met...

 in 1996, and held the post in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 until 2000. After this posting he returned to Moscow, and was appointed by Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...

 as Ambassador of Russia to Finland in 2003, and held this post until 2006, when he was appointed as Ambassador of Russia to Poland

Ambassador of Russia to Poland

Poland and Russia had exchanged diplomatic missions for centuries. The first ambassador in the modern meaning of this word, from Poland to Russia, was Antoni Augustyn Deboli, in late 18th century. After the period of partitions of Poland, in 1918, relations were established between the Second...

. Since July 2010 Grinin has served as Ambassador of Russia to Germany in Berlin.

Grinin is married with one daughter, and speaks Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

, English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 and French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

.