OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs managed to achieve progress in the negotiations  with Azerbaijan and Armenia on elements of a comprehensive agreement on the Karabakh conflict and helped  reduce tensions along the contact line, following increased violence late last year, James Warlick, the Minsk Group’s US co-chair,told Trend Sept. 22.

He was commenting on the work done by the OSCE Minsk Group since early 2015 regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

Warlick said the co-chairs look forward to bringing the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia together at the UN General Assembly to continue preparations for the next presidential summit.

“We hope the presidents will agree to meet before the end of the year,” he added. “The co-chairs will discuss these plans with the foreign ministers at the UN General Assembly, and we stand ready to bring the presidents together anytime.”

Commenting on the influence of a tension in relations between the US and Russia on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process, the co-chair said the two countries share the same objective on Nagorno-Karabakh, i.e. a peaceful, negotiated resolution of the conflict.

“Despite disagreements in other areas of the US-Russian relationship, we work closely in the co-chair format to make progress towards our common goal of reaching a lasting settlement that would transform the South Caucasus,” said Warlick.