The activities of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs should be continued, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said in an interview with TASS.
“They made an important contribution to the development of basic principles for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, many of which were reflected in the statement of November 9, 2020. This also applies to the return to Azerbaijan of the regions located around Nagorno-Karabakh, the return of refugees, the preservation of the corridor linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, security, peacekeeping operations, unblocking all economic and transport links in the region,” he said.
“The task of achieving a comprehensive political settlement, which, in accordance with the decisions of the OSCE Budapest summit (1994), is entrusted to the Minsk Group co-chairs, remains in demand. The “Troika” has strong international support and can be useful in developing mutually acceptable approaches to further steps, including on the issue of status, but carefully and slowly, when the time comes,” the Deputy FM said.
According to him, now the OSCE Minsk Group and its co-chairs could be active in strengthening confidence-building measures between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.
“The development of dialogue within the framework of civil society will contribute to the general improvement of the situation in the region and the creation of prerequisites for further steps on the political track,” Rudenko said.
