Editor's note: Details were added after the second paragraph
OSCE Minsk Group (MG) Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov has received a new appointment, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko was quoted as saying by Vesti television channel.
"Russia's position in the OSCE Minsk Group is not determined by our representatives in it, but by the president," he added.
The Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group will be replaced this summer, a senior diplomatic source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told Trend earlier.
"Russia's current co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov is likely be replaced by Igor Popov," the source said. "Popov's candidacy to this post has been discussed over the past few months."
However, Russian Ambassador to Mozambique Igor Popov has denied information about his appointment as Russia's co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"The ambassador responded to a request from your agency about the possibility of his appointment and said that there has been some mistake. He has no connection with the OSCE Minsk Group and was surprised by this information," Mikhalevich said.
The Armenian Web site News.am reported Feb.24 that Popov can be appointed as Russia's new co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Popov is Russian Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to the Republic of Mozambique since July 2005 and the Kingdom of Swaziland. He has held various diplomatic posts in the ministry's central office abroad. He served as deputy director of the CIS First Department of the Foreign Ministry.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.
