Foreign Ministers of Italy and Russia to expand the mission of OSCE observers in Karabakh

Moscow / 01.02.18 / Turan: The increase in the number of OSCE observers on the contact line between the Azerbaijani and Armenian forces will strengthen the process of the Karabakh settlement, said the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano at a press conference in Moscow. Any form of organizational support is very useful for achieving the set goals. That is why we believe that this is an important and positive step, he said, answering the question that the settlement of the office of the personal representative of the OSCE chairman in the conflict region will give the settlement.

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said that it is not so much about expanding the office of the OSCE special representative, but about increasing the number of OSCE observers on the contact line. According to him, such an initiative appeared in 2010, but only after April 2016, after the "well-known incident" on the contact line, in Vienna, and then in June 2016 in St. Petersburg at the meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan with participation the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs agreed to add several people (six to seven) to the OSCE observers on the line of contact.

Now the parties are close to agreeing on specific parameters for the implementation of this agreement.

"I have heard doubts that if we increase the number of observers, will this become a reason for perpetuating the conflict, and will it deprive of an incentive for a political settlement," Lavrov said, adding that any settlement processes should include parallel comprehensive steps to strengthen security and political settlement, Lavrov said. -02D-