Call to Resume Trilateral Negotiations: Statement from Artsakh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

25 years ago, the trilateral agreement on the complete cessation of fire and military operations came into effect, signed by Artsakh, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, with the mediation of Russia. By signing an additional agreement on July 26-27, 1994, all three parties confirmed the indefinite nature of the ceasefire regime until the final resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

This was stated in a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh.

The agreement of May 12, 1994, is of paramount importance because it put an end to the war unleashed by the Azerbaijani authorities, shifted the conflict to a political-diplomatic track, and created conditions for the parties to focus their efforts directly on seeking ways to resolve the conflict with the support of international mediators.

The signing of this agreement, which remains the only real achievement in the conflict resolution process, became possible due to a number of factors. Firstly, the Artsakh Defense Army managed to repel Azerbaijani armed aggression, significantly disrupt Baku's military potential, and compel it to sit at the negotiating table.

Secondly, faced with serious military defeats, the Azerbaijani leadership not only ceased to obstruct Artsakh's full participation in the negotiation process as one of the main parties in the conflict but also initiated direct contacts with official Stepanakert multiple times, including at the highest level. These contacts resulted in about 10 agreements on limiting military operations, temporary ceasefires, or their extensions, ultimately leading to the signing of the indefinite agreement on the complete cessation of fire and military operations.

Today, 25 years later, the agreement of May 12, 1994, continues to serve as the legal basis for the ceasefire regime and for maintaining regional peace and security in the South Caucasus. This fact is unconditionally acknowledged by the international community, as evidenced by the response of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group—Russia, the USA, and France—as well as the UN Secretary-General, the OSCE Chair-in-Office, and the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, who called for strict adherence to the ceasefire agreements of May 12, 1994, and the agreement for consolidating the ceasefire regime of February 6, 1995, following Azerbaijan's instigation of the April war in 2016.

The effectiveness of the ceasefire agreement confirms that achieving real success in the resolution process is possible through a fully-fledged trilateral negotiation format, which, in accordance with international law, considers the interests and concerns of all parties involved in the conflict. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh believes that to provide the necessary impetus for conflict resolution, it is essential, on one hand, to resume direct trilateral negotiations, and on the other hand, to consistently strengthen the ceasefire regime, including through the establishment of international monitoring mechanisms as stipulated in the agreements reached in 2016 in Vienna and St. Petersburg. It is also crucial to restore the delimitation line of the conflicting forces, which was agreed upon and documented among the three parties with the mediation of the Russian Ministry of Defense at the time of the cessation of hostilities as part of the ceasefire regime.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh reaffirms the commitment of official Stepanakert to the exclusively peaceful resolution of the conflict and calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to abandon their hopeless policy of a military solution, which would allow for the irreversible advancement of the peace process and establish lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus region.