February 22, 2017 - 17:43 AMT
Moscow not indifferent to future of OSCE office in Yerevan: Lavrov

Moscow is not indifferent to the future of the OSCE office in Yerevan at least because it’s headed by a Russian citizen, foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Armenia is the only country in the South Caucasus where an OSCE office is still operating.

“I believe the last proposal by the Austrian presidency solves all the problems,” Lavrov said.

“We always support the principle according to which country offices open in line with the wishes of a given OSCE member state. In this particular case, we are not indifferent to the issue, because this office is headed by a Russian citizen.”

Earlier, Azerbaijan voted in favor of closing the office in the Armenian capital, whereas a number of other OSCE member countries such as the United States, Canada, Russia and Switzerland supported the activity of the bureau in Yerevan.