The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Jacques Faure of France, and James Warlick of the United States of America), who travelled to the region Dec 15-19 to discuss recent developments in the Nagorno Karabakh peace process, said that the “recent violence on the border undermines prospects for peace.”
The Co-Chairs met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Dec 15 in Baku, and with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on Dec 16 in Yerevan. They travelled to Nagorno Karabakh on Dec 17.
In Stepanakert, NKR President Bako Sahakyan stressed Artsakh’s full-fledged participation in the negotiations and halt of Azerbaijan’s destructive and aggressive policy as key conditions in the process.
Meanwhile, the Co-Chairs “encouraged the sides to refrain from further actions that could increase tensions, and to work to maintain an atmosphere conducive to progress at the negotiating table.”
They will travel to Switzerland for consultations with the incoming Chairperson in Office of the OSCE in January, followed by a meeting of the two Foreign Ministers to prepare for the next summit.
