The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov held in meeting Hamburg with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.
During the meeting reference was made to issues outlined in the joint statement of the heads of delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian told reporters in Hamburg.
The Armenian Foreign Minister said there is no alternative to the negotiation process and Armenia is committed to working with the Co-Chairs towards an exceptionally peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
“The April events constituted large-scale aggression accompanied by vicious atrocities strongly condemned by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs in their statement,” Minister Nalbandian said.
“The use of forces should be excluded, because it’s the use of force against the principle of self-determination that has created this conflict,” Edward Nalbandian added.
He stressed the importune of implementation of the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg summits.
“Azerbaijan, which had long been refusing to agree to the expansion of the monitoring mission, now agrees for the expansion of Andrzej Kasprzyk’s team, but denies the dislocation of monitors along the line of contact or in the region,” Minister Nalbandian said.
He added that expansion of the OSCE Monitoring mission will not change much, but will at least be a symbolic step forward.
Minister Nalbandian reiterated Armenia’s strong commitment to the 1994-1995 ceasefire agreements, the exceptionally peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict and the creation of mechanisms, not only an investigation mechanism, but also a restraining mechanism, that will help create an atmosphere more conducive to furthering the negotiation process.
