On May 16 the Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian received OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov, Jacques Faure and James Warlick, as well as Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. Jacques Faure introduced Pierre Andieux who will replace him as a Co-Chair from France in June.

Edward Nalbandian and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs discussed the possible ways to move forward the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

Referring to the 20th anniversary of cease-fire establishment marked earlier this week, Edward Nalbandian stressed that for 20 years continuously Azerbaijan has committed gross violations not only of the cease-fire agreement, reached between Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia on May 12, 1994, but also the ceasefire consolidation agreement, reached in the same trilateral format on February 4, 1995.

Azerbaijan has continuously organized provocations on the border with Armenia and the Line of Contact with Karabakh, refuses to carry out the initiatives of the Co-Chairs on the withdrawal of snipers from the Line of Contact, creation of a mechanism of investigation of incidents, which hinders the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair states to move forward the negotiation process.

Edward Nalbandian noted that following the meeting of the Presidents in Vienna last November some hope emerged that it was possible to further the negotiation process. However, the Azerbaijani side, as it often happened in the past, once again backtracked. Particularly it became apparent during the last meeting of the MG Co-Chairs with the Foreign Ministers, when the Azerbaijani side rejected the Co-Chairs’ proposal made in accordance with the arrangement reached by the two Presidents in Vienna.

During the meeting the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia highlighted, that by pursuing its non-constructive policy, rejecting numerous proposals of the Co-Chairs, Baku hinders the achievement of the progress in the negotiations and thereby does everything possible to maintain the status quo.