Thursday, September 8 2016 14:14

ArmInfo.On September 8, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received in Moscow the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America,  and Pierre Andrieu of France), and Personal Representative of the  OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk. 

The press office of the Russian Foreign Ministry has told ArmInfo  that the meeting covered the topical issues of the Karabakh peace  process, including the course of implementation of the arrangements  reached at the summits in Vienna on May 16 and in St. Petersburg on  June 20, as well as the current situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani  border and on the Line of Contact of the NKR and Azerbaijani troops.  

To note, on May 16, 2016, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the  Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State of the United  States of America John Kerry, and State Secretary for European  Affairs of France Harlem Desir, representing the co-chair countries  of the OSCE Minsk Group, met with President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan  and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to advance a peaceful  resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They reiterated that  there can be no military solution to the conflict. The Co- Chairs  insisted on the importance of respecting the 1994 and 1995 ceasefire  agreements. The Presidents reiterated their commitment to the  ceasefire and the peaceful settlement of the conflict. To reduce the  risk of further violence, they agreed to finalize in the shortest  possible time an OSCE investigative mechanism.  The Presidents also  agreed to the expansion of the existing Office of the Personal  Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office. Finally, they  agreed to continue the exchange of data on missing persons under the  auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to  which the Presidents committed during the Paris summit of October  2014. The Presidents agreed on a next round of talks, to be held in  June at a place to be mutually agreed, with an aim to resuming  negotiations on a comprehensive settlement.

On June 20 2016, the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia met  in Saint Petersburg at the behest of Vladimir Putin.  Reaching a  settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was the subject of  discussion at the meeting, which took place behind closed doors.   Following the consultations, the presidents of Russia, Armenia and  Azerbaijan adopted a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to  normalizing the situation on the line of contact and giving their  approval to an increase in the number of OSCE observers working in  the conflict zone. The joint statement also expresses the parties'  commitment to putting in place the conditions required for steady  progress in negotiations on a political settlement to the conflict.   The presidents made a point of their regular contacts on Karabakh and  agree to continue them in such format as addition to the efforts by  the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs who were invited to the final stage of  the meeting in St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, Azerbaijani President Ilham  Aliyev said that the investigative mechanisms at the present stage of  the settlement are irrelevant and the issue can be discussed after  "withdrawal of Armenian troops from the NKR". He also stressed that  the Office of the OSCE CiO Personal Representative can be expanded by  no more than 12-13 people. Following the meetings in Vienna and St.  Petersburg, France expressed willingness to host the next meeting on  Karabakh in August 2016, but no meeting was organized.