MINSK, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday appointed former Finance Minister Yuri Seliverstov as the country's new ambassador to Russia.

Seliverstov will also serve as Belarus's representative in integration frameworks and will be granted the rank of deputy prime minister.

Seliverstov will take on the critical role as relations between the two countries deepen amid global challenges, Lukashenko said.

The Belarusian president praised Seliverstov as dynamic, decisive, and familiar with bilateral economic issues. ■