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APA reports that the meeting was held with the participation of OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Finland Alexander Stubb.The Minsk Group co-chairs made speeches on Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Addressing the meeting American co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza said they met with Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders during their visit to the region in September.
“We heard the same view in Baku, Yerevan and Nagorno Karabakh – a new window has been opened in the settlement of the conflict and it would be a significant event to sign an agreement on the core principles,” he said.
Matthew Bryza underlined that the happenings in Georgia accelerated the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
“All agreed that the August developments in Georgia were a kind of warning to the war and instability might spread in the region. Turkey-Armenia negotiations showed that normalization of the relations in the region can be the basis of stability and prosperity in the region,” he said.
Matthew Bryza regarded the joint Declaration signed by Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents on Nagorno Karabakh conflict as a significant event.
“This document calls on the Foreign Ministers in collaboration with OSCE Minsk Group to increase efforts for the settlement of the conflict basing on Madrid principles. The sides also note the importance of forming the atmosphere of mutual confidence in order to achieve a balanced decision. We will continue our efforts for reaching an understanding. We are grateful to our Russian colleagues for organizing the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents,” he said.
Russian Co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov said important events happened in the South Caucasus, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, after his report in OSCE Standing Committee a year before.
“These developments had an influence on the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict and mediating activity of Minsk Group co-chairs. We informed Minsk Group members about the process of settlement, joint activity and our plans every three months. Reviewing last year’s work chronologically we can point out the meeting held in Madrid late in November. Earlier the co-chairs announced that the proposals were not ultimatums. They can be assessed as formulas on the settlement of the conflict or the co-chairs’ proposals on core principles that cause divergence between the parties. After a year has passed since the Madrid proposals were put forward, the co-chairs are sure that this step has turned the core principles of the conflict into the subject of the negotiations, and the proposals comprising all the elements of the balanced compromise of Moscow, Washington and Paris,” he said.
French Co-chair Bernard Fassier outlined the chronology of the work done within the past year and said the co-chairs met with Foreign Ministers in Moscow in August and prepared a plan for autumn.
“I want to reiterate that unlike the previous years, the elections held in 2008 did not bring the negotiations on the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict to a deadlock. Much work has been done for the realization of Madrid principles this year,” he said.
The co-chairs plan to visit the region in mid-November.
