Like the Transdniestria conflict, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict has gone on for too long, Lithuania’s Chairmanship of the OSCE said in a report.

“Throughout the year, the Chairmanship, the Co-Chairs and members of the Minsk Group, andother participating States urged the parties to continue, in a greater spirit of compromise, tonegotiate a peaceful settlement based upon the principles of the Helsinki Final Act, includingnon-use or threat of force, territorial integrity, and the equal rights and self-determination ofpeoples,” the report says.

“This culminated in agreement on a Joint Statement by the Heads of Delegation of theMinsk Gorup Co-Chair Countries and the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan onthe margins of the Vilnius Ministerial Council on 6 December. In it, the five Heads ofDelegations agreed on the need to continue the negotiating process in the format of the OSCEMinsk Group and to improve the climate for making progress towards a peaceful settlement,” it says.

“The Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan said that their Presidents are ready to meet againjointly in the near future under the auspices of the Co-Chair countries to continue their directdialogue, building upon recent experience, on how to bring peace, stability and prosperity totheir peoples. This year, many deplorable incidents occurred along the Line of Contact. These incidents resulted in the loss of life, and contributed to increased tension in the region. TheChairmanship, alongside the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group, called on the parties to takeadditional, immediate actions to reinforce the cease-fire agreement by agreeing on amechanism to conduct investigations of incidents along the Line of Contact, and by removingsnipers.”