July 11, 2018 - 16:43 AMT
Armenia: Minsk Group can’t make Azerbaijan not fire

Deputy Armenian Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan has said that Azerbaijan, and not the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, is to blame for the lack of progress in the process of the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

According to him, the sides need to have mutual trust to reach some progress.

“The minimum base for confidence requires the parties to not shoot [at each other],” Kocharyan told reporters on Wednesday, July 11, according to Aysor.am.

Kocharyan also stressed that the Minsk Group co-chairmanship can’t force Azerbaijan to refrain from opening fire as the mediators have no such mandate.

The co-chairs, he said, are only mandated to bring the positions of sides closer to each other and ensure that hostilities do not resume.

The Deputy Foreign Minister cited Azerbaijan as the main obstacle to Artsakh’s (Karabakh) return to negotiations, adding that Baku thus demonstrates that it doesn't seek progress in the talks.

Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said earlier that Armenia has always been and continues being a party to the Karabakh conflict. According to him, the voice of Karabakh is vital, and Armenia is committed to finding a peaceful settlement through a negotiating process.

Mnatsakanyan is set to meet his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in Brussels on Wednesday.