Armenian Foreign Minister: Rumors about the "death" of the OSCE Minsk  Group are somewhat exaggerated

ArmInfo.Against the background of the developments around Ukraine, the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship, to put it mildly, are not actively proceeding,  it can be stated that there were no tangible steps during this  period. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated this on May  25 from the rostrum of the parliament during the government hour, in  response to a request to assess the viability of the OSCE Minsk  Group, endowed with a mediating mandate to resolve the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In this vein, the minister recalled that before that, Azerbaijan  rejected the format of the OSCE Minsk Group and refused to continue  the negotiation process under the auspices of the troika of  co-chairs.  "But, after the war around Ukraine, some disagreements  appeared among the co-chairs themselves. We see the settlement of the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, from a political point of view, precisely  in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship. We continue to  talk and work in this direction with all international partners, and  first queue with the co-chairs," Mirzoyan assured, adding that  recently, the co- chair countries have confirmed their mandate to  continue working in this format, as evidenced by the statements made  from Moscow, Washington, Paris.

"We cannot say that there is a consensus, but as some would say, the  rumors about the "death" of this format are somewhat exaggerated," he  added.

To clarify the effectiveness of the normalization of relations  between Yerevan and Baku through the mediation of Moscow and  Brussels, taking into account the confrontation between Russia and  the collective West, Mirzoyan noted that Armenia cannot allow a  vacuum to arise in this process.

"And from this point of view, we also welcome the efforts of Brussels  and participate in these processes, which are already yielding  tangible results. I repeat that Armenia has stated and repeatedly  confirmed its readiness to build peace in the region, normalize  relations with Azerbaijan, including finding a mutually acceptable  political solution to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh  conflict. And from this point of view, we welcome all possible  efforts to establish peace in the region," summed up the Armenian  Foreign Minister.

It should be noted that in mid-April of this year, Russian Foreign  Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that he could not predetermine the  further fate of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the  Nagorno- Karabakh conflict, since against the backdrop of  developments around Ukraine, Western partners (the United States and  France - ed. note) refuse to communicate with the Russian side,  including in this format.