On July 8, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Bernard Fassier (France), Matthew Bryza (USA) as well as Andrzej Kasprzyk, the personal representative to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

In the course of the meeting they discussed preparatory issues of the forthcoming meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow.

Touching upon the format of negotiations of the Minsk Group, Edward Nalbandian stressed the necessity of the full participation of the Artsakh side in the negotiation process as a guarantee of the efficiency of the peace process.

The Co-chairs expressed regret that the weather conditions did not allow them to visit Stepanakert.

Commenting on the request of journalists on the statement of his Azerbaijani counterpart about granting Nagorno Karabakh autonomy within Azerbaijan, Edward Nalbandian stated that the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status is outside the competence of the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, the right to decide upon this issue belongs to the people of  Nagorno Karabakh.