KARABAKH SETTLEMENT MEDIATORS HOPE FOR FINAL AGREEMENT ON PRINCIPLES TO END CONFLICT

Interfax
May 12 2009
Russia

The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group hope to secure a final
agreement on the fundamental principles to settle the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh with the help of the Armenian and Azeri leaders.

The Minsk Group co-chairmen are hopeful that the present-day leaders
of Armenia and Azerbaijan will be able to overcome the complex reasons
for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and its difficult consequences and
to create an atmosphere of security, trust, cooperation and fruitful
dialogue between the region’s peoples, the co-chairmen said in a
joint statement.

They also hope that the leaders will be able to finally determine the
fundamental principles for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in
cooperation with the OSCE Minsk Group, the document said.

According to the joint statement, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed an
indefinite ceasefire agreement in Nagorno-Karabakh 15 years ago.

The co-chairmen regret that the ceasefire has not been observed
completed, and that every year sees more Armenian and Azeri casualties
on the frontline, the statement said.

The OSCE Minsk Group’s co-chairmen – Yury Merzlyakov from Russia,
Matthew Bryza representing the United States and Bernard Fassier
from France – call on the sides to ensure conditions for a viable
ceasefire that will remain in force until the conflict is resolved,
to implement proposals to reinforce the 1995 ceasefire regime and to
withdraw snipers from advanced positions, an initiative put forth by
the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen in Helsinki in 2008.