Zorin was born in Novocherkassk. After joining the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1922, Zorin held a managerial position in a Moscow city committee and the Central Committee of the Komsomol until 1932. In 1935, he graduated from the Communist Institute of Education (Высший коммунистический институт просвещения). In 1935 to 1941, Zorin worked on numerous Party assignments and as a teacher. In 1941 to 1944, he was employed at the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. In 1945 to 1947, Zorin was the Soviet ambassador to Czechoslovakia. In 1948, he helped to organise the Czechoslovak coup d'état. In 1947 to 1955 and again in 1956 to 1965, he was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union. At the same time, he held other positions, including that of the permanent Soviet representative at the UN Security Council in 1952 to 1953. In 1955 to 1956, Zorin was the first Soviet ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1956 to 1965, he again represented the Soviet Union at the UN Security Council, which led to his famous confrontation with Adlai Stevenson on 25 October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis.