OSCE mediators laud decrease in Karabakh ceasefire violations

PanARMENIAN.Net - The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have in a new statement welcomed the significant decrease in ceasefire violations along the contact line between Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and Azerbaijan.

Acting Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Azerbaijan’s foreign policy chief Elmar Mammadyarov on Wednesday, December 5 engaged in “a useful exchange of ideas” when discussing ways for reaching a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the Foreign Ministry reveals.

The co-chairing countries (Russia, the United States and France) and Mammadyarov and Mnatsakanyan agreed to continue working towards a just and lasting peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

The mediators welcomed the significant decrease in ceasefire violations and reported casualties following the conversation of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the margins of the Commonwealth of Independent States’ summit in Dushanbe in September.

They appealed to the sides to continue implementing the understandings reached there and to take concrete measures to prepare their populations for peace. The co-chairing countries expressed hope that an intensive results-oriented high-level dialogue between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia to promote a just and lasting settlement of the conflict can resume in the near future.

The top Armenian and Azerbaijani diplomats reaffirmed their commitment to work intensively to promote a peaceful resolution of the conflict and to further reduce tensions. They agreed to meet again in early 2019 under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs for this purpose and in order to facilitate high-level talks. They recognized the strong engagement and good-faith mediation efforts rendered by the co-chairing countries, as well as the activities of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.