On May 12 the Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian received the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Robert Bradtke (the USA), Igor Popov (Russia), Jacques Faure (France) and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

Calling the visit of the Co-Chairs to Yerevan symbolic as it took place on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the establishment of a ceasefire in the Karabakh conflict zone, Edward Nalbandian mentioned that since the ceasefire agreement, during the recent years, the sides have had several opportunities to get closer to the settlement of the issue, but Azerbaijan backtracks every time, hindering the process to reach an agreement.

“Over those years, Azerbaijan failed to resist the temptation to settle the issue by the use of force, and instead of preparing its population for peace, Azerbaijan is continuing its military rhetoric, provocations in the line of contact and purchase of large-scale armament thus hampering the settlement of the issue and endangering the fragile peace in the region,” added Minister Nalbandian.

During the talk the implementation of the agreements reflecting in the joint statement of the Presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan made on January 23 in Sochi was touched upon, in particular the creation of mechanisms to investigate incidents.