Artsakh President Bako Sahakian (right) meeting with Personal Rep. of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk on Feb. 28, 2017 in Stepanakert (Photo: Press Service of the Artsakh President)

STEPANAKERT—Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic President, Foreign Minister, and Defense Minister separately received on February 28 Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk in the capital city of Stepanakert.

The meeting addressed a number of issues related to the situation along the contact line between the Artsakh and Azerbaijan armed forces.

Sahakian described the on February 25 Azerbaijani attack as a provocative policy aimed at undermining peace and stability in the region.

The president highlighted the need for a targeted and strong response by the international community, considering it a vital component in containment of Azerbaijan’s destructive policy.

Artsakh Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan meets with Kasprzyk on Feb. 28, 2017 in Stepanakert (Photo: Press Service of the Artsakh Foreign Ministry)

Artsakh Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan later in the day met with Kasprzyk to discuss Saturday’s incident as well as the monitoring to be conducted by the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Wednesday.

Mirzoyan stressed that the incident confirms yet again the necessity of full restoration of the ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 1995, as well as the practical implementation of the arrangements on creating conditions for the resumption of the negotiation process reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg.

During the meeting of Defense Minister Levon Mnatsakanyan and Kasprzyk, Mnatsakanyan presented evidence of Azerbaijani aggression to the ambassador. The minister underlined that the Artsakh Army is “ready to neutralize any hostilities of the adversary, remains an advocate of a peaceful and negotiated settlement of the conflict.”