On March 13, a meeting of Foreign Minister of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh Republic) Masis Mayilian with the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Foreign Minister of the Slovak Republic Miroslav Lajcak took place in Yerevan.
At the request of Miroslav Lajcak, the Artsakh Foreign Minister presented the position of the Artsakh side regarding the settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict.
Masis Mayilian stressed that the Minsk Group co-chairmanship is the only agreed mediation platform for the settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict. The Foreign Minister of Artsakh noted that the best way to successfully advance the peace process is the restoration of the trilateral format of negotiations enshrined in the Document of the OSCE Budapest Summit in 1994. Masis Mayilian expressed regret that in subsequent years, there was a departure from this decision taken by consensus. According to the Minister, the trilateral format of negotiations, with the direct and full-fledged participation of official Stepanakert, not only proved its effectiveness, but also was the most productive, ensuring the achievement of the agreement on cease-fire and cessation of all hostilities on May 12, 1994. Along with the need to restore the trilateral negotiations, Masis Mayilian also stressed the importance of developing new ideas to achieve real progress in the peace process.
Artsakh Foreign Minister said that one of the key indicators of the effectiveness of the settlement process is the implementation of the agreements reached earlier, noting that the actual refusal of Azerbaijan from the Vienna and St. Petersburg agreements hinders the advancement of the peace process.
During the meeting, the sides also touched upon humanitarian issues. Noting that the core principle of the OSCE is to ensure comprehensive security, covering the military-political, economic, and human dimensions. At the same time, Masis Mayilan expressed regret that this organization had focused mainly on the conflict settlement. The Minister called upon the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office not to neglect the human dimension. Masis Mayilian drew the attention of Miroslav Lajcak to the fact that Azerbaijan does not cease the attempts to isolate Artsakh and in this regard the OSCE bears certain responsibility for the citizens of the Republic to ensure that due to the unresolved conflict, the citizens of the Republic are not restricted in exercising their fundamental rights and freedoms. In this regard, Masis Mayilian noted the relevance of the issue of visits of high representatives of international organizations to Artsakh. According to him, such visits will become an important signal that the issue of peace and stability in the South Caucasus region is in the focus of attention of the OSCE and other international structures.
The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Miroslav Lajcak, assured that the OSCE would continue to exert every effort for the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict.
