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New proposals under consideration to end stalemate in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

11 December 2015 19:12 (UTC+04:00)
New proposals under consideration to end stalemate in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

By Sara Rajabova

Resolution of the protracted Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has become topical recently as a new proposal was made to find a peace to the problem.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has recently made new proposals on solving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict on behalf of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

Though these proposals were not disclosed, they were accepted as a step taking to move the peace talks from a deadlock.

U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick said there are proposals under consideration by the sides that have the full support of the co-chairs.

“Minister Lavrov brings considerable experience as a mediator in the conflict and we welcome his involvement and commitment to working with the co-chairs,” Warlick told Trend.

He added that the shared goal is to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict in the interest of all people in the region.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has recently said Lavrov has presented proposals on settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during his visit to Azerbaijan in September.

He said Sergey Lavrov put forward certain proposal in order to give an impetus to the negotiation process.

In the meantime, German chairman-in-office in OSCE for 2016 gave new incentive for resolution of the conflict.

The OSCE Minsk Group looks forward to working closely with the German chairman-in-office on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Warlick said the Germans have committed themselves to supporting the co-chairs in Minsk Group efforts to mediate a negotiated settlement to the conflict.

He pointed out that at the OSCE Ministerial Council held in Belgrade on December3-4, the co-chairs met with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian to finalize plans for a summit meeting of the two countries’ presidents.

The co-chairs are working on bringing together the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents till the end of the year.

The presidents last met and discussed the ways of settling the long-standing conflict in France last October.

Though the officials from both countries said the presidents could meet this month, the exact date and place of the meeting is yet to be discussed.

The recent outbreak of violence on the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops once again clearly demonstrated to the world community the urgency of settling the long-standing conflict, which is source of instability in the South Caucasus region.

The Armenian armed forces have increased the ceasefire violations purposefully targeting the Azerbaijani settlement located near the frontline and putting the life of the civilians on danger.

These facts and lasting stalemate in the negotiation process necessitate taking a new approach for speedy settlement of the conflict.

Peace talks on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group.

The negotiations are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles.

Madrid Principles, which also known as Basic Principles, envisage liberation of occupied Azerbaijani territories, right of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their native lands and etc.

However, despite the efforts of the co-chair countries over 20 years the negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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