
ArmInfo.Great Britain and Canada support the statement of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh - Russia, the United States and France - who earlier called for an unconditional truce between the parties to the conflict. A joint statement by the foreign ministers of the two countries, Dominic Raab and Franus-Philippe Champagne, was published on Tuesday by the British and Canadian Foreign Ministries, TASS reports.
"We strongly support the statement made by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. We call on all external parties and friends of both countries to redouble their efforts to end the violence and refrain from actions that could lead to an intensification of the crisis," the joint the statement of Raab and Champagne. "Canada and Great Britain reiterate the need for an immediate cessation of ongoing hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the statement also says. Champagne and Raab stressed that "the time has come for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh," and called on the parties to immediately begin negotiations.
"We are particularly concerned about reports of shelling of civilian areas and would like to express our condolences to the families of the victims. The parties to the conflict must end the violence and abide by the ceasefire agreement," the ministers said.
Negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are underway within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, headed by the troika of co-chairs - Russia, USA and France since 1992. On October 1, the presidents of Russia, the United States and France, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron, as the heads of the group's co-chairing countries, adopted a statement on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. The leaders of the countries stressed that they condemn in the strongest terms the escalation of violence taking place on the line of contact in the conflict zone. They called for an immediate end to hostilities.