OSCE Minsk Group mediators planning to visit Armenia in February

PanARMENIAN.Net - The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are planning to travel to Armenia and Azerbaijan in early February for talks over the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, a statement released on Thursday, January 18 revealed.

Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States, together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, met with foreign minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian on Wednesday and foreign minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov on Thursday. The co- chairs met jointly with the two foreign ministers on Thursday.

The ministers and the co-chairs discussed next steps for facilitating realization of the agreements reached at previous summits dedicated to the settlement process. The foreign ministers agreed in principle to the co-chairs' revised concept paper for implementing the expansion of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office with a view toward finalizing it as soon as possible.

During the meetings, the parties and co-chairs exchanged views on core sensitive issues contained in the working proposals currently on the table. The co-chairs also called for pursuing trust-building measures as an important contribution to the negotiation process. The ministers and the co-chairs acknowledged the relative calm on the line of contact, and the co-chairs urged the parties to reinforce this positive trend.

‎The co-chairs indicated to the ministers their interest in further discussing the possibility of conducting a follow up to the 2010 assessment mission to the territories affected by the conflict.

According to the statement, the co-chairs plan to travel to the region in early February.