Moscow believes that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs should continue their work in the Nagorno-Karabah settlement process, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said Wednesday, February 10, TASS reports.

"They made an important contribution to the development of basic principles for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, many of which were reflected in the statement of November 9, 2020," Rudenko said, citing the return to Azerbaijan of the regions surrounding Karabakh, the return of refugees, the preservation of the corridor linking Karabakh with Armenia, security, peacekeeping operations, the unblocking of all economic and transport links in the region.

According to Rudenko, the task of achieving a comprehensive political settlement, which, in accordance with the decisions of the OSCE Budapest Summit (1994), is entrusted to the Minsk Group co-chairs, is still valid.

"The Troika", as he described the Russian, French and U.S. co-chairs, has strong international support and can be useful in developing mutually acceptable approaches to future steps, including on the status. But carefully, slowly, when the time comes, he added.

"The OSCE Minsk Group and the co-chairs could now help strengthen confidence-building measures between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. The development of a dialogue within the framework of civil society will contribute to the general improvement of the situation in the region and the creation of prerequisites for further political steps," Rudenko stressed.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev on November 9 signed a statement to end the war in Karabakh after almost 45 days. Under the deal, the Armenian side has returned all the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.