Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh

Nagorno-Karabakh

Rome [ENA] The so called 2020 Artsakh War (or 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War) is an ongoing armed conflict between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces for possession of the Caucasus Nagorno Karabakh region. The first war activities began on the morning of September 27, 2020 along the Artsakh line of contact. Armenia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh introduced martial law and general mobilization,

while Azerbaijan only martial law and curfew. After almost two weeks of fighting, on 10 October 2020 the representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan, thanks to the mediation of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergej Lavrov, signed a ceasefire to allow the exchange of prisoners and deceased, valid from 12 : 00 local time of the same day but immediately broken down. The fighting is currently underway. The clashes are part of the controversy surrounding the Caucasus region of Nagorno Karabakh inhabited by an Armenian majority, recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan, but under the control of the Artsakh republic.

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) released the following statement on 25th October: “The Co-Chairs met in Washington D.C. on October 24 with Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, and also participated in a joint meeting with the Foreign Ministers and U.S. Deputy Foreign Minister Stephen Biegun. The Personal Representative of the OSCE’s Chairman in Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, also participated in the meetings.

The Co-Chairs urged the sides to take immediate steps to implement all aspects of the October 10 Moscow Joint Statement in accordance with their commitments, noting that they had reaffirmed these commitments with Paris on October 18. The Co-Chairs also reminded the sides of the October 1, 2020 joint statement of United States President Donald J. Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the October 5 joint statement of Secretary of State Secretary of State of the United States of America Michael R. Pompeo, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Yves Le Drian, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

calling on the sides to cease hostilities immediately and to resume substantive negotiations to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. During their intensive discussions, the Co-Chairs and Foreign Ministers discussed implementing an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, possible parameters for monitoring the ceasefire, and initiating discussion of core substantive elements of a comprehensive solution, in accordance with the October 10 Joint Statement.

The Co-Chairs and Foreign Ministers agreed to meet again in Geneva on October 29 to discuss, reach agreement on, and begin implementation, in accordance with a timeline to be agreed upon, of all steps necessary to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in accordance with the basic principles accepted by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia”.