Minsk Group plans to meet Azerbaijani, Armenian presidents in Hamburg

Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group plan to meet with Azerbaijani and Armenian ministers within the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting of December in Hamburg, with a view to meet the presidents of both countries at the earliest opportunity. The statement was made after the co-chairs visited the region on October 23-25.

"Such a dialogue at the highest level is necessary to make progress towards a settlement," the Minsk Group stressed in its statement.

Last meeting between the presidents was held in June in St. Petersburg. After that, they were expected to meet in August also, however, it did not take place due to ignoring from Armenian side which does not want the negotiations to make progress.

During the regional visit, the Group’s co-chairs, namely, Ambassadors James Warlick of the U.S., Igor Popov of Russia, and Pierre Andrieu of France, as well as the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, have met with the Presidents and Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and de facto authorities in NagornoKarabakh, and discussed the situation on the contact line after the April clashes, as well as clarified the current condition of the negotiation process.

The trip started from Baku, where the Group held meetings with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on October 22-23. The position of the Azerbaijani side on the conflict is quite clear ¬– the unacceptability and unsustainability of the current status quo in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as restoration of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Similar statement was voiced by James Warlick. “Status quo is not sustainable, we need to work effectively further to find a peaceful solution,” he said while being in Baku.

Warlick also made another important and fair statement: “There will be no agreement without the return of occupied territories of Azerbaijan, or without talks on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.” Azerbaijan supports this position, in the meantime allowing the possibility of giving Nagorno-Karabakh a status of autonomous republic if it will be returned by Armenian aggressors.

For over two decades, 20 percent of Azerbaijani historical lands remain under occupation of Armenian troops. Due to the war, over 1 million of Azerbaijani population had to leave their homelands and become GDPs. Moreover, Armenian troops severely killed over 20,000 Azerbaijanis, including children, women and elders.

By ignoring four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, as well as appropriate documents adopted by The European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Non-Aligned Movement, Armenia intends to preserve the status quo in the region and freezes the needed settlement of the conflict.

On October 25, the Minsk Group held talks also with the Armenian authorities.

During the meetings in Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Minsk Group underscored the necessity of respect for the ceasefire regime on the contact line. Both presidents stressed their compliance with the decisions taken during their meetings in Vienna and St. Petersburg. They expressed their views on how to move the settlement process forward. The Presidents also affirmed their consent on expansion of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

The co-chairs also met with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to discuss the work undertaken by the organization on the exchange of data on missing persons.