ArmInfo. The OSCE plays a useful role in promoting the Transnistrian and Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, is one of the co-chairs of the Geneva discussions on security and stability in the Caucasus. This is stated in a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry regarding the agenda for the participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the 26th meeting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Bratislava on December 5-6. "We believe that the settlement of any conflicts should be carried out by peaceful political and diplomatic methods, within the framework of established formats, with direct participation and taking into account the interests of the parties to the conflict," the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry reminded that the CFM serves as a platform for political dialogue among the participating states, and the decisions taken by the OSCE are not legally binding and are political commitments.
Having ascertained that meetings of the CFM are usually held in the country, which chairs the OSCE in the current year, in 2019 these functions are performed by Slovakia, from which the chairmanship will be transferred to Albania in 2020. "We are open for constructive work on all draft ministerial documents that have been put forward more than 20. When coordinating the texts, our experts are guided by the requirements of Russian legislation, international legal obligations and national interests of Russia," the Russian Foreign Ministry said, recalling that before the CFM a traditional meeting of the CSTO foreign ministers is scheduled.
It should be noted that Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan will also take part in the work of the OSCE Ministerial Council. Moreover, on the sidelines of this important event, today in Bratislava a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan is planned with the mediation of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. As Sergey Lavrov said the day before in Baku, after discussing the negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it is planned to adopt a final statement in either the 3 + 2 format (the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan plus the three co-chairs) or the statement of the co-chairs.