Senior Foreign Affairs Advisor Brice Roquefeuil has been appointed France's new co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, according to a statement from the French government. Former co-chair Stéphane Visconti has been recalled for other functions.

Roquefeuil has also been named ambassador for the Eastern Partnership of the European Union and the Black Sea. The diplomat has earlier served as France's ambassador to Uzbekistan and Panama, as well as Consul General in Rio de Janeiro.

The Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. Besides France, Russia and the United States too are co-chairs.