U.S. changes its co-chair in OSCE Minsk GroupAugust 24, 2017 - 13:41 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Richard Hoagland's tenure as the U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group has ended, with Andrew Shaffer set to take up the post, Hoagland himself said in Washington, according to the Voice of America. According to Hoagland, Sheffer is a skilled American diplomat who has in recent years been serving as Charge d'Affaires of U.S. missions in international organizations. Hoagland said Sheffer has real experience in tackling conflicts in Cyprus and elsewhere, and expressed confidence that "the State Department and the Secretary have chosen a brilliant U.S. co-chair." The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are negotiating a settlement over the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh). The latter, alongside Armenia and Azerbaijan, signed ceasefire agreements in 1994-1995 but the conflict has yet to be resolved. Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | European Parliament to discuss repression in Azerbaijan The European Parliament will discuss repression of civil society in Azerbaijan on April 24 PACE wants concessions from Azerbaijan to accept Baku back A PACE co-rapporteur said that Azerbaijani authorities must make certain concessions so that the country can return to PACE. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. Azerbaijan razes historic Armenian church to ground Azerbaijan has demolished the historic Armenian Church of St. John the Baptist (known as Kanach Zham). |