Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Russia can play a key role in the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that flared up unexpectedly on April 2, believes the Secretary General of the OSCE.

Russia's contribution to resolving the long lasting conflict will bring results and create conditions for a new phase of negotiations that will be much more constructive than previous talks, Lamberto Zannier, Secretary General of the OSCE told Ria Novosti on April 8.

He voiced hope that all the efforts will be consolidated and the problems will be resolved at the negotiation table.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to this day.

A precarious cease-fire was signed in 1994. However, the Armenian forces committed armistice breaches on the frontline almost every day.

As the fragile ceasefire was broken following Yerevan’s provocations on April 2, it became clear that those directly engaged in resolving the conflict should find another effective method that will allow deterring the aggressor.

The OSCE Minsk Group, acting as a sole negotiator between Armenia and Azerbaijan, has responded immediately after the aggravation of the situation on the frontline, but the co-chairs have confined themselves to general statements.

The parties to the conflict have agreed to cease operations on the line of contact only after the mediation of Russia, which is the co-chair country in the OSCE Minsk Group.

Zannier further said that the OSCE is ready to hold a new special session on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict if the situation there aggravates again.

The OSCE held a special session on April 4, while on April 7, the OSCE Permanent Council discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and it will also discuss this conflict the next week, Zannier said.

Zannier stressed that the new special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will be held when they come back from the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"They [the co-chairs] are in the [Nagorno-Karabakh] region now and will stay there as long as necessary to define the next steps and review the actions to be done," he said. "The co-chairs must report about everything to the OSCE chairman-in-office. So, I think they will go to Berlin. Then they will decide themselves when to arrive in Vienna."

Zannier further added that the co-chairs' mission has no time limits.

Meanwhile, Russia's Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich stated that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE's sole responsibility, other organizations can only help.

"There is a full, 100-percent responsibility of the OSCE as a mediating party for what happens in the conflict zone," he said during the Moscow-Vienna video conference.

He further reminded that Russia's large-scale and high interference has allowed reaching truce between the conflicting parties.

"We emphasized respect and full support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and used all our opportunities to influence the conflict parties, with which we have strategic relations," said Lukashevich.

The co-chairs together with the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, travelled to the regions shortly after the Vienna meeting, which was held to discuss the recent developments in the Azerbaijani occupied territories.

Following the talks with Azerbaijan’s officials, the co-chairs noted that the negotiations over the Nagorno-Karabakh problem should become intensive and decisive step should be taken towards a peace settlement.

The OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, proceeding talks based on the renewed Madrid principles. The statements promising a sincere contribution to the peaceful resolution of the conflict have become frequent, but declarative in essence. The very attitude broke confidence in success of the mediators representing the U.S., Russia and France.

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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

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