Thursday, December 7 2017 23:57

ArmInfo. Following the results of the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna, the heads of delegations of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State of the United  States of America Rex Tillerson and French Permanent Representative  Veronica Roger-Lacan issued a joint statement.

"We, the heads of delegations of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair  countries - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of  State Rex Tillerson, and the Permanent Representative of France  Veronique Roger-Lacan - remain united in our commitment to the  peaceful settlement of the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict on the basis of  the fundamental the principles of the Helsinki Final Act, including  the non-use of force or the threat of force, territorial integrity  and equal rights and self-determination of peoples. local commitment  to the negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the conflict as the  only way to achieve real reconciliation with the peoples of the  region", said in a statement posted on the OSCE website.

The heads of delegations welcome the resumption of the high-level  dialogue between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Geneva  on October 16, as well as the meeting of foreign ministers held in  Vienna on December 6 under the auspices of the Minsk Group co-chairs.  "We express our satisfaction with the intensification of the talks  and call upon the parties to concentrate their efforts on finding  compromise solutions to the main issues of the political settlement."  Further delays will only complicate the situation and may call into  question the commitment of the parties to reach a lasting agreement,  "the document says.

Concerning the declared commitment of the two presidents to take  additional measures to reduce tensions on the contact line, the  representatives of the co-chair countries urge Baku and Yerevan to  accept the expansion of the office of the Personal Representative of  the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. "Other decisions taken at the summits in  Vienna and St. Petersburg in 2016, should also be implemented," they  note. The authors of the statement also welcome the parties'  consideration of the proposals of the co-chairs aimed at restoring  contacts between the peoples of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the  support of the International Committee of the Red Cross in its  efforts to promote the exchange of data on missing persons, and also  call on the parties to avoid unnecessary politicization of these  important humanitarian steps. "Our countries are still ready to  cooperate closely with the sides in achieving a lasting and peaceful  settlement, and we instructed our co-chairs to continue mediating  measures to promote compromises regarding working proposals submitted  to the parties, but we emphasize that the main responsibility for  ending the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict lies with the leaders of  Armenia and Azerbaijan, "the statement stresses.