Incidents at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and at the line of contact are not acceptable. This was stated by the American co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick on October 28 at a press conference in Baku, commenting on the incident which occurred during the monitoring on the contact line of troops by the mediators.
He noted there were shots during the monitoring.
"I witnessed a great threat at the frontline, and how terrible it is. We were in a safe place. But the officers conducting the monitoring were in the open, under fire," said Warlick.
After monitoring the OSCE MG Co-chair talked to experts.
"It was almost impossible to determine where the shots were fired," said Warlick.
Touching upon the prospects of the meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the diplomat said that the heads of the two states are not against that.
According to Warlick, currently they are working on the details of the organization of the meeting.
"The Presidents should discuss how to reach a consensus on how to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the conflict. The current situation is different from that which was two years ago. For the first time, we are witnessing the application of heavy artillery at the contact line. Unfortunately, the result is the death of civilians. I consider it important to discuss the issue of the growth of tension by the Presidents. We should also discuss the issues of strengthening confidence-building measures between peoples, dialogue among communities," continued Warlick.
He noted the need for the Presidents to prepare their nations not to war, but to peace.
"Presidents should appeal to all the nations living in the region, so that they are ready for peace and not for war. Resolving the conflict would open a new chapter in the region and is essential for its development. The peoples of the South Caucasus have a complicated history. I hope that the resolution of the conflict will lead both nations forward. I believe that we must ensure a stable future for the new generations. There should be established relations between the two nations, and they should be able to arrange cohabitation in the future," summed Warlick. -16 / 03B
Politics
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Armenia is not against the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, but does not consider it appropriate to discuss this issue now. "In the context of peace, we consider it possible to make a decision on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. When peace is an established fact, the existence of such a format may raise questions," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference today. "The whole question is about the timing, we need to understand how effectively and correctly to turn such topics into a subject of discussion right now," the Armenian Prime Minister added.
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He expressed his willingness to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the border between the two countries. "A meeting with Ilham Aliyev could take place at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I am open to such a format," Pashinyan said at a press conference today. According to Pashinyan, Armenia recently presented another proposal for a peace treaty to Azerbaijan.
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On August 31, Azerbaijan observes a "day of silence" before the Sunday’s early parliamentary elections for the unicameral Milli Majlis. All electoral campaigning is prohibited 24 hours before the voting. The early elections were initiated by the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party. This decision was motivated by the overlap of the scheduled elections in November with the global UN forum - the COP20 climate conference taking place in Baku.
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On August 30, at approximately 22:55, the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant in Metsamor was disconnected from the country's power grid, as reported by the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure. The shutdown was caused by a lightning strike, which triggered the plant's safety systems to switch the station to a safe shutdown mode. Currently, the plant's staff is working on restarting the facility.
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