Baku, Azerbaijan, April 6
Trend:
The format of the OSCE Minsk Group shouldn't be changed, because it would undermine their role in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, Russia's permanent representative to the OSCE, Alexander Lukashevich said at the meeting of the Permanent Council, TASS reported.
"The format of the ''three representatives'' whose role is fixed by the OSCE decisions and UN Security Council is efficient and doesn't require adjustments", he added.
Lukashevich said that Russia will continue mediation to resolve the conflict. "As a member of Minsk Group co-chairs, we are in close cooperation with the United States and France and we will continue mediation efforts to assist the parties to find a mutually consensual basis for resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Russia's permanent representative to the OSCE said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.