Calls for Reinstating Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship Format
The Artsakh Foreign Ministry on Friday said that Azerbaijan’s ongoing and now complete blockade of Artsakh makes it impossible for Stepanakert to engage in “genuine dialogue” with Baku, adding that Artsakh has always been interested in finding a comprehensive solution to the conflict through negotiations.
Official Stepanakert also called for reinstating the now-defunct OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing process and urged the international community to take decisive action.
The Artsakh Foreign Ministry statement seems to be in response to remarks made by Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who on Thursday told reporters that the United States was forcing Artsakh to hold talks in Azerbaijan in a third country. Citing Russian media reports, Zakharova accused the U.S. of interfering in the matter and claimed that Washington was threatening to use force against Artsakh if its authorities did not comply with its demand.
Coincidentally, the State Department told Armenpress on Thursday day the U.S. will welcome any dialogue that will contribute to the peace in the region.
“We have consistently maintained that peace in the region must include protections for the rights and securities of the people of NK. We would welcome any dialogue that furthers this,” the State Department said in response to an inquiry by Armenpress.
“After the end of the 44-day war, there have already been attempts of such contacts to resolve a number of pressing issues. In particular, several meetings were held between representatives of Artsakh and Azerbaijan through the mediation of the Russian Peacekeeping Contingent, during which humanitarian, infrastructural and other technical issues aimed at ensuring conditions for the normal and peaceful life of the people were discussed,” the Artsakh Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
“Before the blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, thanks to the meetings held with the mediation of the Russian Peacekeeping Contingent, specific results were achieved on issues of identifying the fate of the missing and searching for the remains of the dead, ensuring the normal functioning of vital infrastructures, organizing agricultural work and others. The last meeting in this format was held on March 1 2023, during which issues related to ending the transport and energy blockade of Artsakh were discussed,” the statement explained.
However, it emphasized that the Azerbaijani side first refused to implement the agreements reached during the meeting, and then resorted to various provocations and aggressive actions, consistently rejecting all subsequent proposals of the Republic of Artsakh to continue the meetings in this format.
“The authorities of the Republic of Artsakh have repeatedly stated that for the resumption of the peace process, it is necessary to restore the internationally recognized negotiation format, within which it would be possible to discuss all disputes and differences based on the principles of good faith, co-operation and equal rights of the parties. At the same time, this mechanism must be inclusive and representative, and have the potential and authority to ensure the implementation of the agreements reached and the commitments undertaken by the parties,” the statement added.
The Artsakh foreign ministry noted that the role of international mediators should not be limited to providing offices, but should be aimed at more active involvement in the process of finding fair, balanced and viable solutions to existing problems, creating favorable conditions to conduct dialogue with dignity, as well as ensuring Azerbaijan’s compliance with the norms and principles of international law and the provisions of the UN Charter.
“In this context, we reiterate the importance of using the potential and experience of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship, as well as the effective cooperation of all major actors involved in the peaceful settlement of the conflict,” Stepanakert said.
“In this regard, we attach primary importance to the collective and individual efforts of the international community aimed at creating normal living conditions in Artsakh, ending its transport and energy blockade, removing the illegally installed Azerbaijani checkpoint and ensuring the unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions, in accordance with the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020 and the order of the International Court of Justice of February 22, 2023,” the statement said.
“It is obvious that in such conditions of the ongoing severe blockade of Artsakh and the increasing threat of the use of force and ethnic cleansing, when the 120,000 people of Artsakh are in fact in a hostage situation, genuine dialogue to discuss ways of a political settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict is unrealistic,” the Foreign Ministry emphasized.
