ArmInfo.Against the background of the developments around Ukraine, the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship, to put it mildly, are not actively proceeding, it can be stated that there were no tangible steps during this period. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated this on May 25 from the rostrum of the parliament during the government hour, in response to a request to assess the viability of the OSCE Minsk Group, endowed with a mediating mandate to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In this vein, the minister recalled that before that, Azerbaijan rejected the format of the OSCE Minsk Group and refused to continue the negotiation process under the auspices of the troika of co-chairs. "But, after the war around Ukraine, some disagreements appeared among the co-chairs themselves. We see the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, from a political point of view, precisely in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship. We continue to talk and work in this direction with all international partners, and first queue with the co-chairs," Mirzoyan assured, adding that recently, the co- chair countries have confirmed their mandate to continue working in this format, as evidenced by the statements made from Moscow, Washington, Paris.
"We cannot say that there is a consensus, but as some would say, the rumors about the "death" of this format are somewhat exaggerated," he added.
To clarify the effectiveness of the normalization of relations between Yerevan and Baku through the mediation of Moscow and Brussels, taking into account the confrontation between Russia and the collective West, Mirzoyan noted that Armenia cannot allow a vacuum to arise in this process.
"And from this point of view, we also welcome the efforts of Brussels and participate in these processes, which are already yielding tangible results. I repeat that Armenia has stated and repeatedly confirmed its readiness to build peace in the region, normalize relations with Azerbaijan, including finding a mutually acceptable political solution to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. And from this point of view, we welcome all possible efforts to establish peace in the region," summed up the Armenian Foreign Minister.
It should be noted that in mid-April of this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that he could not predetermine the further fate of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict, since against the backdrop of developments around Ukraine, Western partners (the United States and France - ed. note) refuse to communicate with the Russian side, including in this format.