Warlick: It is impossible to determine the direction from which fire was opened during OSCE monitoring

The situation on contact line of Azerbaijani, Armenian troops awful, US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick told reporters in Baku on Oct.28, APA reports.

"I was on the contact line between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops yesterday. We crossed that line alongside the OSCE monitoring group. While there used to be questions of how dangerous this situation was, I can now tell you from my experience there that the situation is awful," US co-chair James Warlick told reporters.  Both parties must respect the ceasefire regime, Warlick said, noting that there is a need to find a lasting peaceful solution to the conflict.

"I was in a safe place with the co-chairs. However, two employees of the OSCE were in a dangerous place and sought a place to hide. I am glad no one was injured. Such incidents are unacceptable.  When we discussed the incident with the OSCE experts, they said that it is impossible to determine from what direction the fire was opened. They are specialists in this field. Of course, the monitoring should be conducted professionally on the contact line or along the internationally recognized borders of both countries. However, it is hard to determine the direction when the fire is opened. Once again I state that such incidents are unacceptable during the monitoring with the participation of the co-chairs", APA quotes the U.S. co-chair as saying.

To note, on October 27, in accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the OSCE Mission conducted a monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan in the Martakert-Tartar road section, with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co- Chairs. The press office of the Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Ministry reported that the monitoring was led by the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.  During the monitoring, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office crossed the Line of Contact from the NKR side to Azerbaijan's territory.  At the end of the monitoring shots fired from submachine guns from the Azerbaijani side were registered.