OSCE Mediators Ready to Host Another High-Level Talks Between Armenia and Azerbaijan

NEW YORK — The three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group met separately with Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov in New York on the sidelines of the latest session of the UN General Assembly to discuss further steps in the peace process. They issued a joint statements afterwards.

“The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France, as well as the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, met separately with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly to continue discussions on a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“During the meetings, we paid special attention to implementation of decisions taken at the recent summits in Vienna (May 2016) and St. Petersburg (June 2016). In particular, we discussed further steps that could create an atmosphere for advancing substantial negotiations that could lead to a settlement.

We also exchanged views on proposals that could be discussed between the sides.

Our governments are prepared to host another meeting of the Presidents or Foreign Ministers at the appropriate time.

We plan to visit the region in the near future.”

The Armenian Foreign Ministry said Nalbandian and the three mediators discussed on Tuesday implementation of confidence-building measures that were agreed by the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents at their last two meetings held in May and June.

A ministry statement said Nalbandian accused Azerbaijan of refusing to honor those agreements aimed at preventing ceasefire violations around Karabakh and along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Baku is thus preventing “appropriate conditions” for progress towards a peaceful settlement, the Armenian minister said, according to the statement.

For his part, Mammadyarov reportedly accused the Armenian side of seeking to “disrupt the negotiation process” through “provocations” when he met Warlick, Russia’s Igor Popov and France’s Pierre Andrieu on Wednesday. The APA news agency cited him as complaining about Armenian military exercises which he said are being held near Karabakh.