Azernews.Az

OSCE mediators brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh on Thursday presented their annual report of activities to the OSCE Permanent Council, in light of the upcoming OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius.

In summarizing their efforts to mediate a lasting and peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Bernard Fassier of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States and Igor Popov of Russia - noted that in the past year they visited the region eight times and held fourteen separate meetings in various locations with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Serzh Sargsyan. The co-chairs also crossed the Line of Contact of the two countries’ troops by foot four times in the past fourteen months, "demonstrating that the Line is not a permanent barrier between peoples of the region and that military coordination in implementing the ceasefire is possible when all the sides are willing", they said in a statement.

Highlighting the continued engagement of their three governments, including at the highest level, the co-chairs also reiterated that there is no military solution and that political will by the sides is essential for them "to make the difficult decisions required to move beyond the unacceptable status quo and achieve peace".

The co-chairs also described additional efforts intended to improve the atmosphere for negotiations, strengthen implementation of the ceasefire, and promote understanding among peoples of the region.