Azerbaijan backs off from Kasprzyk office expansion commitment

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan assumed no commitments in terms of expanding the existing Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, deputy chief of Azerbaijani presidential administration Novruz Mammadov said Tuesday, May 18, Azeri media report.

President Sargsyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev participated in a meeting on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement in Vienna on Monday, May 16. The summit was the first one since the escalation in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone.

"The move won’t bring significant changes in [current Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office] Andrzey Kasprzyk's powers,” Mammadov said.

"We only agreed to strengthen the ceasefire for future talks.”

"The most important thing is to observe the ceasefire, avoid provocations and start negotiation process in June," he added.

In a joint statement following the meeting in Vienna, however, top representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries said “the Presidents agreed to the expansion of the existing Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.”