Dubinin was born in Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, within the Russian SFSR in the Soviet Union.

He received his doctorate from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, focusing on the international politics of the Asia-Pacific region.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Dubinin was a Russian deputy foreign minister from 1994 to 1996.

[2] In 1986, Leonard Lauder hosted a New York City luncheon attended by Donald Trump and Soviet Ambassador to the United States Yuri Dubinin during which Trump hashed out his partnership with the Kremlin.

[4][5][6] Dubinin with support from Vitaly Churkin is known to have organized future US President Donald Trump's first visit to the Soviet Union in July 1987.