Friday, May 31 2019 01:01

ArmInfo.The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs expressed deep concern over the recent casualties in the Karabakh conflict zone and called on the parties to exercise maximum  restraint to avoid an escalation of the situation.

This is stated in a statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov -  the Russian Federation, Stefan Visconti - France, and Andrew Schofer  - the United States of America), based on a visit to the region from  May 27 to May 30. The organization was reminded that Personal  Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk also  participated in the trip.

The OSCE informed that during the visit to Yerevan, the mediators met  with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on May 27, and with  Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on May 30. "In both  capitals, the mediators held consultations with the foreign ministers  and defense ministers of the two countries. On May 28, they also met  with the de facto authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh. In Baku, the co-  chairs met with the chairman of the Azerbaijani community of  Nagorno-Karabakh. Meanwhile, in Nagorno-Karabakh, the mediators were  informed by representatives of the office of the International  Committee of the Red Cross in Stepanakert on humanitarian issues,  "the mediators said in a statement.

At the same time, the OSCE emphasizes that the main purpose of the  visit to the region is to assess the development of the situation on  the line of contact between the troops and the state border, as well  as to follow up the discussions held between the President of  Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia in Vienna on March 29  and the foreign ministers of the two countries in Moscow on April 15.  <In accordance with the request, the co-chairs submitted proposals on  specific next steps in the settlement process, including on  humanitarian and security measures. The foreign ministers of Armenia  and Azerbaijan accepted the proposal of the co-chairs to meet in the  near future under their auspices, "the mediators said in a statement,  adding that information about the upcoming meeting of the foreign  ministers of the two countries will be given in due time.