Austria, Vienna, 06 November /corr. Trend А.Аleskerov / The OSCE Minsk Group assesses the declaration of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia as a positive step towards the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
" Moscow declaration is a positive step towards the solution of the conflict. Several items of the declaration changed after the recent event in Georgia," the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group said to joint press conference in Vienna after meeting on 6 November.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenia's Serzh Sargsyan and Russia's Dmitry Medvedev signed a declaration at the end of their meeting in Mein Dorf castle near Moscow on 2 November. Presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan decided to make joint efforts to normalize the situation in Caucasus and requested Foreign Ministers to make efforts to solve the [Armenian-Azerbaijani] Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The declaration calls for the settlement of the conflict in line with the principles and norms of international law and decisions and documents adopted in this respect, which will create favourable conditions for economic development and comprehensive cooperation in the region.
The co-chairmen said that Minsk Group can not solve the conflict, the sides themselves must determine the ways of solving the problem. " Azerbaijan supports solution of the conflict within the territorial integrity of the country, and Armenia - conducting a referendum for determining status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Minsk Group serves only for creating confidence between the conflicting sides," co-chairmen said.
The co-chairmen said that they will visit region in mid November.
Andzey Kasprzyk, personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, said to press conference that since last year, 25 people died as a result of violation of the ceasefire regime in the line of contact of the Azerbaijani-Armenian troops. However, he did not made clear what side broke the regime.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan lost the Nagorno-Karabakh, except of Shusha and Khojali, in December 1991. In 1992-93, Armenian Armed Forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and Nagorno-Karabakh's seven surrounding regions. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The countries keep on peace negotiating. OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by USA, Russia, and France is engaged in peace settling of the conflict.
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