ArmInfo.Six elements on the settlement of the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict, voiced by former OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair Richard Hoagland, are not new. On August 31, during a weekly briefing, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said, commenting on the statement of the ex-mediator from the United States.
Referring to the appointment of Andrew Shaffer as the new OSCE MG co-chair from the United States, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that Moscow welcomes this appointment. "We proceed from the fact that in the updated composition the co-chairs will continue their efforts aimed at assisting the parties in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict and expect that the team approach, which was always inherent in the three, will be preserved," Zakharova summed up.
To note, the former US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Richard Hoagland (who was replaced by Charge d'Affaires at the US Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna, Andrew Shaffer), before leaving his post, unveiled 6 elements for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. According to the report, taking into account the complicated history of the Karabakh conflict, the parties should in the future fix its final legal status on the basis of consensus and legally binding will. Before that, the territory that is part of the administrative borders of the former Nagorno-Karabakh autonomy and not under the control of Baku, should receive a temporary status, which, at least, provides guarantees of security and sovereignty.
The "occupied territories" around Nagorno-Karabakh, according to the statement, should be transferred under the control of Baku. There can not be any settlement without taking into account Azerbaijan's sovereignty, the report says. "The power of Azerbaijan over these territories should be restored," it was noted in the text.
The next item discusses the creation of a land corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, which should be "sufficiently wide" for safe transport, but it can not occupy the entire territory of the Lachin district.
"Long-term settlement must ensure the right of all forcibly relocated and refugees to places of early residence," the statement said.
And the last point is negotiating the creation of international security guarantees, which includes a long- term settlement. These guarantees, according to the statement, should include peacekeeping operations. "There is no scenario in which the world could be provided without well-organized peacekeeping activities that enjoy the confidence of all parties," the statement said.
ArmInfo.The United States formally appointed Andrew Shaffer as the new permanent co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.