VIENNA, Austria (A.W.)–Ambassador James Warlick has announced his plans to resign as United States Co-Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group at the end of the year.
“I will step down as OSCE Co-Chair on Dec. 31. It has been an honor to serve in the State Department for more than 30 years,” Warlick tweeted on Nov. 21.
Warlick, who will be joining Russian law firm Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev and Partners, has been a negotiator in the Nagorno-Karabagh (NKR/Artsakh) peace process for the last three years. He has been working with the Russian and French Co-Chairs and has mediated many rounds of peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
He will be joining Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev and Partners Washington, D.C. team in Jan. 2017. There he will be responsible for “working with U.S. and international clients, development of strategic client relationships, legislation and public policy,” according to a statement released by the firm. “He brings unique policy expertise and hands on knowledge to clients who seek strategic advice and vision,” read another part of the statement.
Warlick has worked for the U.S. government for the last 30 years with multiple CIS countries including Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. He holds experience working as negotiator and special envoy.
The State Department has not yet announced who will replace Warlick.
{Warlick, who will be joining Russian law firm Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev and Partners, }
A _Russian_ law firm?
Very strange: I would have thought he would have joined the Turkbaijani law firm “Aliyevoğlar and Partners”.
Good riddance…
Good riddance.
He has been inept, ineffective, biased and a mere puppet of the Administration. Other than siding with the Azeris, he has not come up with a single constructive proposal or suggestion. A total waste.
What is really surprising is that he is joining a Russian Law firm.
Hopefully Obama will defer nominating his replacement to the new administration. However, we have no idea what the Trump administration will do but hope it will be a person who has better judgement and fairer.
Vart Adjemian
Well, as anti-Armenian as James Warlick happened to be, I highly doubt that the U.S. government will select a replacement who’s more sympathetic towards the human rights of the Artsakhtsi Armenians.