OSCE MISNK GROUP ISSUES A STATEMENT ON NAGORNO KARABAKH

armradio.am
30.11.2007 11:57

The OSCE Minsk Group issued the following statement on Nagorno
Karabakh:

"Prior to the opening of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Madrid on
November 29, 2007, US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and French Foreign Minister Bernard
Kouchner met with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan,
Vartan Oskanian and Elmar Mammadyarov, to demonstrate political-level
support for the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries’ effort to forge
a just and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In the meeting, the representatives of the United States, France and
Russia formally presented a set of Basic Principles for the Peaceful
Settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict to the Armenian and
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers for transmission to the Presidents of
Armenia and Azerbaijan.

It was noted that over the last three years of talks the two sides
had significantly narrowed their differences through the mediation
of the Co-Chair countries and that only a few differences remained
to be settled.

As noted by the representatives of the three Co-Chair countries,
the joint proposal that was transmitted today to the parties offered
just and constructive solutions to these last remaining differences.

The parties to the conflict were strongly urged to bring to a
close the current stage of negotiations by endorsing the proposed
Basic Principles and commencing as soon as possible to draft a
comprehensive," the statement reads.