Fresh efforts needed for Karabakh settlement, OSCE chief says

PanARMENIAN.Net - OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter-Steinmeier said Thursday, December 8 that new efforts are needed to resolve the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, RIA Novosti reports.

A session of the OSCE Foreign Minister's Council kicked off Thursday in Hamburg. OSCE Minsk Group's U.S. Co-chair James Warlick said earlier that a meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign policy chiefs may be organized.

Steinmeier said that the Minsk Group has been created and tasked to help settle the conflict, adding that the "process needs a breath of fresh air."

According to him, the OSCE is concerned about the latest events in Karabakh, and the situation "still remains dangerous."

"The escalation in April shows the risk of fresh outbreak of violence," the German minister said.

Azerbaijan on April 2 launched an overt military offensive against Karabakh, with both sides suffering hundreds of casualties. The parties reached an agreement on the cessation of hostilities on April 5.

The EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini also said that the 28-nation bloc is anticipating some progress in the process of the Karabakh conflict settlement.