OSCE MG is not de facto working - Russian ambassador to Armenia

ArmInfo. The OSCE Minsk Group, mandated to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, is de facto not working. This was stated by Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergey  Kopyrkin in an interview with 24News.

He recalled that the Western co-chairs of the OSCE MG refused to work  with the Russian one, presenting it with a fait accompli.

"Now the situation has certainly changed. But it is difficult to  imagine in what format the OSCE MG will work, when one co-chair  actually takes a Russophobic position, the second reassesses its  position regarding the Russian Federation. Plus, for the OSCE MG to  work, there must be agreement from all parties. The countries  directly involved must agree on this," the Russian diplomat said.

At the same time, he emphasized the importance of the regional  countries themselves dealing with the region's affairs, and excluding  outside interference from third parties in order to prevent  distortion of the processes taking place in the South Caucasus.

Earlier Azerbaijan began to seek the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk  Group, the only international format with a mandate to resolve the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Prime Minister of Armenia noted that  he is not against this step if Azerbaijan does not seek to use the  abolition of the OSCE MG for further aggression against the Republic  of Armenia.

Independent experts oppose the closure of the OSCE MG, believing that  this will make the process of Azerbaijan's occupation of Artsakh  irreversible.