The Vienna meeting between presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a very positive fact, Malena Mard, Head of the EU Delegation in Azerbaijan, told reporters in Baku May 18, APA reports.
"We support the decision on taking various measures, investigating incidents, planning "road map" for comprehensive peace negotiations, as well as planning a second meeting of the presidents in the near future," Mard said. The EU delegation head noted that there is no military solution to the conflict. The conflict must be resolved through peaceful negotiations in which the presidents and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are playing a key role, she stressed.
Mard also recalled the meeting of EU High Representative Federica Mogherini with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. "Mogherini visited Azerbaijan in late February. She expressed desire to actively deal with this problem and become a partner of the OSCE Minsk Group in this issue," she concluded.
To note, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Secretary of State of the United States of America and State Secretary for European Affairs of France released a joint statement on May 16 following the meeting with Armenia and Azerbaijan's presidents. "The presidents 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," reads the statement.