Mediators hail reducing tensions in disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh
International mediators working to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in the Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh have welcomed reducing tensions in the disputed zone, commending the readiness of Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders to continue dialogue aimed at resolving the issue.
In a statement released on Friday, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said that the Minsk Group’s co-chairs met with Armenian Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan on 29 October and with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on 1 November, adding that both leaders “confirmed that the level of violence has fallen significantly since they reaffirmed in Dushanbe [Tajik capital] their commitment to reduce tensions.”
The co-chairs also held meetings with the two countries’ foreign and defense ministers.
The statement said that during consultations, the co-chairs received additional details about the implementation of the Dushanbe understanding, including with regard to the establishment of direct communication links.
“The Co-Chairs welcomed these developments, commended the sides for implementing constructive measures in good faith, and expressed support for the leaders’ readiness to continue their dialogue," said the statement.
The mediators underlined the need for “sustaining a climate of trust for intensive negotiations on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict", OSCE said, noting that "the Foreign Ministers agreed to meet again before the end of the year."
The Minsk Group’s co-chairs Andrew Schofer of the United States, Igor Popov of Russia and Stephane Visconti of France together with the personal representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk visited the disputed region from 29 October to 2 November.
Azerbaijan has been engaged in a dispute with Armenia over Karabakh, an Azerbaijani territory seized by Armenian separatists in a bloody war in the 1990s.
Some 30,000 people were killed in the conflict, which ended with a fragile truce in 1994. The two former Soviet countries are technically still at war and have yet to reach a permanent peace agreement on the issue.
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