Russia's president has replaced the country's &to=http://english.pravda.ru/cis/2001/05/24/5789.html' target=_blank>U.N. envoy, Leonid Skotnikov, naming Valery Loshchinin to replace him, the Kremlin said Monday.
The government gave no reason for the change and said Skotnikov was taking another job, but did not provide any other details.
Loshchinin, a 65-year-old former ambassador to Belarus, had been first deputy foreign minister in charge of relations with the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose alliance of 12 ex-Soviet republics.
President &to=http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/350/16631_Putin.html' target=_blank>Vladimir Putin named him permanent representative to the U.N. bodies in Geneva as well as other international organizations there, his office said.
Loshchinin, who has been involved in talks in recent years involving Russia's tense relations with Georgia, was removed from his post as first deputy foreign minister in connection with his new appointment, the Kremlin said.
In 1999-2001, Loshchinin was Russian permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Austria. A graduate of a university in Belarus, he was Russian ambassador to Belarus in 1996-1999, reports AP.
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