YEREVAN—On Tuesday, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov, James Warlick and Pierre Andrieu, and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, in Yerevan.

 

During the meeting the parties continued the discussions on the process of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

Nalbandian drew the attention of the Co-Chairs to the fact that Baku showed obvious disrespect for the Jan. 27 statements of the Co-Chairs and continued severe violations of the ceasefire regime and provocations, which led to unacceptable rhetoric, as noted by the Co-Chairs.

Referring to Baku’s statements about the willingness to undertake the development of a peace treaty, the Armenian Foreign Minister stressed that “in reality the Azerbaijani leadership pursues the aim of frustrating the results of the negotiations on the Basic Principles of settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.”

“Baku tries to use the Karabakh conflict, which remains unsolved at the fault of Azerbaijan, to justify the cruel human rights violations inside the country and the persecution of opposition activists,” he said.

“When we reach agreement on the basic principles, and when Nagorno Karabakh approves it, it will be possible to start talks between Azerbaijan, Artsakh and Armenia to work out a comprehensive peace treaty,” Edward Nalbandian said.

Speaking about the Azerbaijani saboteurs convicted by the Artsakh court, Minister Nalbandian said “their crimes are fully documented and proven.” He reminded that among other things, the saboteurs are charged with kidnapping, torturing and killing a 17-year-old teenager.

President Serzh Sarkisian also met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs on Tuesday.

The mediators briefed the Armenian President on the impressions from the meetings in Baku. The concerns existing in the current negotiations and future steps were discussed.

Sarkisian welcomed the statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs issued on Jan. 27, which, he said, considerably differs from all previous statements, as it finally calls on Azerbaijan to observe its commitments to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.