Tuesday, October 18 2016 18:23

ArmInfo.The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are planning to arrive in the region in the last ten days of October and pay visits to Azerbaijan, Armenia, and  Nagorno-Karabakh, Igor Popov, Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group informed in an interview to APA. 

"We are likely to meet with leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as  well as servicemen from both sides.  We are intending to review the  progress in the fulfillment of the Vienna and Saint Petersburg  agreements. Considering the existing working proposals, we'll discuss  prospects of the negotiation process and clarify the military  situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, which, according to  our estimates, has been relatively quiet until recently", the Russian  Co-Chair noted. Touching upon the meeting of the OSCE Minsk Group  co-chairs which was held in Moscow on September 8, Popov noted that  the co-chairs held the planned consultations in Moscow. Also, a  meeting was held with Russia's foreign minister, during which the  settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including the results of  the Vienna and St. Petersburg meetings were thoroughly discussed.  

"Lavrov informed his colleagues about the mediation efforts of  Russia, sharing the conclusions of the negotiations held on the  Karabakh conflict in Baku and Yerevan. The US and French co-chairs  reaffirmed their countries' approaches to issues that reflect the  collective position of the "troika" on the conflict's settlement",  Popov noted. he added that the Co-Chairs have repeatedly spoken on  the subject of return of the territories surrounding  Nagorno-Karabakh.

"This problem should be addressed in an integrated way, together with  the issues related to the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, the return of  all refugees, the preservation of a corridor linking Nagorno-  Karabakh with Armenia, and the holding of a peacekeeping operation.   The settlement process is a single package, and any attempt to  separate elements preferred by one or the other side as a priority is  non-productive", Igor Popov summarized.