Baku and Yerevan agree to expand the Monitoring Group of the OSCE , Warlick

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan come to an agreement on the extension of the monitoring group of the OSCE in Karabakh and on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border,  the US co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick told the RIA Novosti  agency  on Wednesday. "Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group  are actively working towards the implementation of the commitments undertaken by the Presidents at the meetings in Vienna and St. Petersburg, to reduce tensions and to further promote the process of negotiations for a peaceful solution to the conflict. The Presidents agreed on the expansion of the OSCE monitoring group on the contact line of Azerbaijani-Armenian border," he said.

The US diplomat also said that  it is planned to continue the extensive negotiations on the settlement of the conflict with the involvement of senior officials from each side. "Progress in the diplomatic direction is necessary to reduce the tension between the parties," said James Warlick.

 The head of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stated that it is not  necessary to overestimate the role of the Monitoring Group of the OSCE and made it clear that Baku considers this issue a technical and not a priority.

A number of employees of the OSCE mission can be increased, but it does not mean a breakthrough in the settlement. issue a decision to begin the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories, said Aliyev, speaking at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers in early July. -02D-