Co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group from Russia replaced

ArmInfo.Russia has replaced its co-chair in the OSCE Minsk Group on the Karabakh conflict.

This follows from the statement published on July 29 on the website  of the OSCE Minsk Group in connection with the tension on the  Azerbaijani-Armenian border, where Igor Khovaev is indicated as co-  chairman from Russia instead of Igor Popov. There are no official  comments on the change of the co-chair from Moscow yet.

To recall, Igor Popov was appointed co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group  on the Karabakh issue in the summer of 2010.

According to data from open sources, Igor Khovaev was born on January  18, 1962. In 1988 he graduated from the international faculty of the  Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the USSR  Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the same year entered the  diplomatic service. He is fluent in English, French and Vietnamese.  He has the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and  Plenipotentiary of the 1st class, awarded in February 2017.  From  1988 to 2004 - worked in various positions in the Central Office of  the Russian Foreign Ministry and abroad. From 2004 to 2005 - head of  the department for work with compatriots of the Department of Foreign  Policy Planning of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. From  2005 to 2010 - Minister- Counselor of the Russian Embassy in Vietnam.  2010 to 2015 - Deputy Director of the Third Asia Department of the  Russian Foreign Ministry.  From March 2, 2015 to September 21, 2020 -  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian  Federation to the Republic of the Philippines and concurrently to the  Republic of Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia. Since May 5  of the same year - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of  the Russian Federation to the Republic of the Marshall Islands  concurrently.