Russia hopes that with the appointment of a new OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair from U.S. the team approach will stay in place, spokesperson for Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said during a briefing on Thursday.

Asked about the recent statement by now former co-chair Richard Hoagland, Zakharova said the statement is not new. The presidents of Russia, U.S. and France repeatedly referred to these principles on Karabakh in their statements made from the period of 2009 to 2013, she added.

Zakharova said Russia welcomes appointment of a new U.S. co-chair Andrew Schofer and “we assume that in this new team the co-chairs will continue their work aimed at helping the parties