On November 14, OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov, Jacques Faure and James Warlick and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Anjey Kasprzik made statements at the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna.

The Minsk Group Co-Chairs presented the work that had been done for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2013. They reaffirmed the position of the co-chairing countries (Russia, France and the United States) that there is no alternative to a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Importance was attached to the upcoming meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in November, which may bring a new sweep to the negotiation process.

Ambassador Anjey Kasprzik presented the activities of his office and touched upon the monitoring of the ceasefire regime along the line of contact between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan and the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the confidence-building measures.

Head of the Armenia Mission to the OSCE, Ambassador Arman Kirakossian highly appreciated the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ efforts for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Armenian side attached importance to the implementation of the agreements reached by the joint declaration adopted by the Presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan on 23 January 2012 and emphasized the fact that the Basic Principles must be viewed as a whole.

Ambassador Kirakossian stressed the need for the creation of a mechanism for investigation into ceasefire violations which is envisaged by the declaration adopted in Sochi. The mechanism will contribute to strengthening of the ceasefire regime and will create conditions for progress in the negotiation process.

The sides reaffirmed Armenia’s position that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be settled peacefully, on the basis of the principles of international law reflected in the United Nations Charter and the declarations adopted by the co-chairing countries during the ministerial forums held in L’Aquila, Muskoka, Deauville, Los Cabos and Eniskilen and the ministerial forums of the OSCE held in Helsinki, Athens, Almaty, Vilnius and Dublin, reports the RA MFA press service to « Hayern Aysor ».