The OSCE Minsk Group has suspended its activities on the initiative of the United States and France, but the Europeans acknowledge that the settlement of the remaining issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan is based on the three statements of the leaders of the three countries (Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan), the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on June 24 at a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov.
Then, responding to the question of if he shared the opinion of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that it is necessary to bid farewell to the Minsk Group, Lavrov said that the issue had not been raised during talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart. “We did not consider the Minsk Group as such, as it ceased its activities on the initiative of the French-American participants. But we have, of course, discussed the post-war settlement process. The basis for these new processes is the three trilateral statements of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia,” Lavrov said.
To Aravot’s question about how he would comment on the aforementioned statement of the Russian Foreign Minister, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, former Ambassador On Special Assignments of the RA President, David Shahnazaryan answered in one sentence, “Rumors about the demise of the OSCE Minsk Group are exaggerated.”
It should be reminded that on February 10 of this year, David Shahnazaryan announced,
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“All Armenian opposition forces must make a statement consisting of three points:
Immediately stop the process of establishing Armenia-Turkey relations and opening the borders,
the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, the de-occupation of the Shushi and Hadrut regions, the communication, transport unblocking, and delimitation must be resolved exclusively within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.
The Artsakh Republic will not be part of Azerbaijan.
The current Armenian authorities do not represent the interests of the Republic of Armenia, and their activities are a serious threat to Armenia’s security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
Emma GABRIELYAN
